


For You, To The Moon And Back

by Penguin_Beak



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Character Development, Conflict, F/F, Fluff, Romance, Season/Series 05, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-04-18 08:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 47,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14209041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penguin_Beak/pseuds/Penguin_Beak
Summary: What happened after Lapis left for the moon, and how Peridot copes with it. This takes place after the most recent episode, which is ''Letters to Lars.''





	1. Chapter 1

So here she was. She told herself that the only reason she was on the moon was that the barn was too massive to be carried any further, even though deep inside she knew that wasn't the case. The area around her was desolate and so empty compared to the countryside she was used to. She didn't dare to go inside the barn, and now she just sat on the rooftops, mulling over what had just transpired over the last few days. Why had Peridot lied to her? Was she afraid of her? 

She had thought that they had made a lot of progress in their friendship, but apparently, she was wrong. She had trusted Peridot and felt that she was reacting to her naturally, when in fact she had been walking on eggshells around her this whole time, and Lapis had been too selfish to notice. Peridot had said that ''she believed in her'', and that had almost made her stay, but Lapis wasn't naive. She knew she was powerful, but she was a mere weakling when compared to the diamonds. Peridot didn't know what the diamonds were capable of, or how far they would go to achieve their goal.

Lapis was scared. She was tired of running away all the time, but what choice did she have? Stay on Earth, and risk the possibility of seeing everyone she cared about be destroyed? No, she couldn't cope with even the thought of that. She liked to project a facade of being emotionless, of being unbreakable, but Peridot had a habit of bringing out the worst in her. She remembered that she had shouted at Peridot to ''stop being emotional'', and then she saw the hurtful look on Peridot's face and needed to look away.

Lapis wondered how she hadn't seen it before and was curious as to how many times Peridot had bit her tongue to avoid Lapis' outbursts. Everything in the barn reminded Lapis of Peridot in some way, which was why she didn't feel the need to go inside. Their camp pining heart DVDs, the meep morps they had made together and that damned broken tape recorder all made her think of the green gem, but it wasn't a good feeling. It felt similar to sadness, but what was it? This feeling was unrecognisable to her, it felt as if a gaping hole was in her chest, and she could do nothing else but stare at the slow-moving earth and think.

 

\---

 

It had been some time since Lapis had left, and Peridot thought she was doing well. She still listened to that human 'country' music that Steven had lent her, and she still felt immense pain in her chest whenever she thought of the blue gem, but she had joined the so-called 'improv' group that took place every week. When she wasn't preparing for that, she usually hung out with either Steven or Amethyst, although Amethyst always managed to include an activity that revolved around eating, and Peridot just sat there watching her gobble up whatever monstrosity she had managed to create. 

She still tended to the farm, but admittedly it was a bit harder without Lapis around to water the plants with the use of her powers. Peridot occasionally worked on improving her ferrokinesis, which was growing stronger every day, and she had even managed to lift a medium sized boat, much to the awe of Steven. Currently, she was sitting in the bathtub and playing with veggie-head, but her thoughts couldn't help but drift away to the events that had led her to move to Steven's bathroom in the first place. 

She had been shocked that Lapis had left, along with their barn, and after that shock passed, came the anger, because she hadn't expected Lapis to leave Earth without her, after basically pouring her heart out! Had what she said meant nothing to her? This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Logically, Lapis should have stayed and then applauded her for her emotional outpour. It was always how it worked out in those human shows that Steven had shown her anyway, so what exactly had she done wrong? Lapis had accused her of lying, but Peridot had had only the best intentions, but by the look of betrayal on the other gem's face, these intentions were the wrong ones.

She knew how Lapis still hadn't healed sufficiently, first from being stuck inside a mirror for a few thousand years and then being trapped to a brute under the ocean, so she had just tried to keep things peaceful, because she didn't want to make Lapis upset. Seeing Lapis upset, for some unknown reason, made her feel upset. Peridot blamed herself for not understanding emotions correctly. Peridots were made to think logically, and so they lacked in that department, but she had tried her best and failed to make Lapis stay. Now she was trying to flush away any thoughts of the blue gem, and to try and move on with her life, in whichever way she could.

\---

Steven frowned when he saw Peridot looking glum inside the bathroom because it reminded him of when the Crystal Gems had kept Peridot prisoner in the bathroom all those months ago. It seemed like a century ago now, and he marvelled at how far Peridot had come, but now it looked as if she was back to square one. He needed to find a way to bring Peridot out of her depressed bubble, but how?

"Steven, are you ready for the mission?" Garnet's voice snapped him out of his thought process, and he almost jumped, but then he got an idea.

"Garnet, can Peridot come with us?" Steven asked, looking up at Garnet with a hopeful expression.

"Steven, I don't know if Peridot is ready to come on a mission yet, especially with all that's happened lately." Pearl piped up, who had been trying to dislodge something from the couch that Amethyst had stuck.

"Pearl is right, I'm afraid. Peridot is in a fragile state right now, and her powers are still unpredictable." 

"But Peridot is a crystal gem now too! And she managed to lift a ship and keep it in mid-air for 20 seconds! Shouldn't she get an opportunity to prove herself like I did?" Steven cried, hoping against hope that they would accept.

"Steven is right, and she did lift a ship last week that must have weighed about a 100 tonnes or something." Amethyst stopped demolishing a sizeable pepperoni pizza to wink at Steven, which wasn't subtle in the least.

"Well......all right then, she can come, but tell her to be careful with her powers. As I said, they're still unpredictable." Garnet complied, as she could never refuse Steven anything.

"Yes!" Steven muttered under his breath.

\---

Peridot couldn't believe that she had agreed to go on a mission with the crystal gems. Well, it beat sitting in the bathroom. So far, they hadn't seen the corrupted gem that they were trying to capture in this leafy jungle, but then again Peridot could hardly see anything. Not only was there a significant canopy of greenery preventing any light from entering through the leaves, but the Crystal Gems made sure to stay in front of her.

Steven and Amethyst were the only ones walking side by side with her, and out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the worry in their features, especially since that debacle in the prime kindergarten. She had acted very unlike herself, and she realised that, so that must have been why they were still hung up about it, but that didn't stop the small kernel of annoyance which sprang up within her.

Before she could say anything, she noticed that Garnet and Pearl had ceased walking and now stood before a vast rocky temple embedded in some cliff. The main door was made of obsidian, and there were gem markings engraved on it, which Peridot could hardly decipher, but then again the temple was so old that most of them had been worn out. The trouble was, the door would not budge, even as Amethyst tried to roll into it several times, and Garnet tried beating it with her enormous gauntlets. 

Pearl sighed, already walking away. "It's of no use. We have no way of knowing that it's even in there."

"No, I'm sure there's a way in, we just haven't found it yet." Garnet insisted, placing a hand on the door.

Peridot inched closer to the door, just out of curiosity, but she could barely read any of the markings. However, her eyes caught a seemingly innocent indentation in the rock just near the door, and as she gingerly touched it, she realised that it was a button, and a click was heard. The door heaved, before slowly descending and revealing a dark passageway. 

"Wow, good find P-Dot!" Amethyst clapped Peridot on the back, before scurrying into the passageway. "Well, that was easy," Pearl muttered, feeling stupid that she hadn't seen the button. Garnet merely smirked at her and marched inside the passageway, leaving Peridot to hurry after her. The hall was multicoloured thanks to the different lights being projected from the gems, but it was still relatively dark, and everyone stuck close together. 

They soon split up into three groups to explore different chambers; Pearl with Amethyst, Peridot with Steven, and Garnet with Garnet. Unfortunately, Steven still had that same worrying look stuck to his face, and it was beginning to get on Peridot's nerves.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Peridot finally blurted out.

"Like what?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, Steven. You've been staring at me li- like you pity me!" Peridot stopped walking to face Steven, and he looked at her with widened eyes. 

"I don't pity you Peridot. I'm worried about you, that's all. You are always in the bathroom listening to country music, and I keep thinking about what happened at the kind-"

"I know. I want to forget about that whole debacle. I'm not a delicate earth flower, and I can handle myself. As I said before, Peridots are tougher than you think. It doesn't help to see you and Amethyst look at me like you do." She cradled her hands close to her chest and closed her eyes. "None of it matters because I've forgotten about everything already." 

"Well, alright, but always know that I'm always here to talk, whenever you want to." Steven hesitated, putting his hand on Peridot's shoulder.

"Don't get sentimental on me, you clod." She playfully punched him in the shoulder which caused him to groan painfully as if he was struck, and then they both laughed.

After a few minutes of walking, they found themselves in the main chamber, which was decorated with silver encased walls, and a giant blob in the centre of the room. They noticed that this mysterious blob was moving suspiciously closer to them, and immediately Steven produced Rose's shield. Peridot looked around to see if any metal was available, and luckily there were some pieces of rusted metal in the corner.

She slowly levitated them to her, then pointed them at the mysterious blob, and sent them towards it at an exhilarating speed. A deafening shriek echoed in the room, as the strange blob came into view, and Peridot's shuddered. She could see the shards of metal protruding from its glistening, red skin. It had colossal silver fangs, and an elongated tongue with saliva dripping down its many chins. It stood on five 'legs', at an enormous height, making Peridot feel woozy, but Steven let out a mighty battle cry and lunged at it, fearlessly.

Shaken out of her stupor, Peridot quickly sent more shards of sharp metal towards the corrupted gem, taking this opportunity while Steven distracted it, and luckily one found its gem, and it poofed, but not before letting out one mighty roar. Peridot felt as if she was levitating at that moment. Was this what it felt like to be strong? 

She hadn't expected to defeat the corrupted gem that easily, considering the trouble it had taken her to capture her first one and she felt as if she had dreamed this whole thing up, even though she had never actually slept before. She was so surprised that she didn't even notice that Steven was talking at her face.

"I'm sorry, what are you saying Steven?"

"I said, would you like to bubble the gem?"

She was about to say yes, but then she remembered where the bubble would end up.

"You should be the one to bubble it. After all, if you hadn't distracted it, I wouldn't have gotten a good shot." Peridot insisted, feeling like this was the logical answer.

"Okay!" Steven said excitedly, before he bubbled it up, encasing the gem in pink.

"Steven! Are you alright? Where is it?" Peridot grimaced as Pearl's squawking bombarded her left ear.

"We heard shouting," Garnet stated, unbothered by the apparent chaos that had just taken place.

"Peridot poofed the gem!" Steven ran up to the gems, showing them the bubbled up gem.

"Well, it wasn't all m-"

"Peridot, it seems that we have deeply underestimated your abilities. I was proven wrong." Garnet noted as she ruffled Steven's hair. 

Peridot blushed a light green, which she hoped wouldn't show "It wasn't that big of a deal, but I thank you." 

"Alright, Peridactyl!" Peridot was suddenly bombarded by Amethyst hugging her, and it's a miracle she didn't tip and fall on her face.

"Time to celebrate." Garnet smiled.

\---

They had bought some 'doughnuts' which were rings made of some soft cushiony substance and then gathered at the beach near the temple, where Greg, Steven's father, had his van.

The sunset never ceased to amaze Peridot, and it suddenly reminded her of the times that she and Lapis would sit and stargaze with Pumpkin on their laps. She shook her head to clear her traitorous thoughts, and a faint strumming of a Ukulele started invading the silence, and as she turned her head, she could see Steven playing his instrument and humming a hidden tune under his breath.

The scene laid before her was like one of those 'paintings' in the human museum, everything was still, even the ocean. She realised that for the first time in a long time, she felt like she belonged.


	2. Chapter 2

Steven had just been watching crying breakfast friends season 3 when the telephone began ringing. He reluctantly paused the recorded show and picked up the phone with his meaty hands.

"Steven!"

"Connie?" Steven was always glad to hear from his best friend.

"Steven, can you meet me at the lighthouse as soon as you can? I have something important I have to show you!" Connie gushed excitedly.

"Okay, but is it important, or important important?" 

"Important Important!"

"Oh alright, I'll come right now." Steven wanted to finish his show, but at the same time, he was admittedly very curious as to what Connie wished to show him.

"Okay, and hurry!"

\---

Steven arrived panting at the lighthouse along with a torn up cheeseburger backpack, but Connie was already waiting on the dusty steps, nervously playing with her fingernails. 

Before he could even say anything, Connie ran up to him and clutched his sweaty palm.

"Come with me, quick!" Steven could feel the nervous energy through his palms.

Steven looked up hesitatingly at the white and red coloured construction. "Um...Connie, I'm not sure we're allowed to be in there." 

Connie ignored his pleas and led him through a wooden door and up the stairs. Soon there were at the top, and at the centre of it was a high-powered telescope that his dad had set up. Steven gripped the rail of the lighthouse and bent down to catch his breath, and when looked up he saw Connie waiting impatiently and tapping her foot.

"Look through," Connie instructed while gesturing at the telescope.

To say that Steven was confused would be an understatement. "Connie, wha-"

Connie huffed impatiently. "You'll know if you just look through the telescope!"

"Okay, Okay! Geez!" Steven walked around the telescope and out of the corner of his eye saw Connie beaming with excitement.

Steven gingerly stepped up and put his eye to the telescope, and what he saw made him gasp.

"Is that-"

"The barn!" Connie giggled.

"She's been on the moon this whole time?" Steven couldn't believe his own eyes. He had been sure that Lapis must have been on some faraway planet in some other galaxy, and this whole time she had been sitting right under their noses!

"I have to get to her before she leaves." Steven decided. 

"Yeah, but how?"

He looked at her incredulously. "Uhhhh?" 

This earned a smirk from Connie. "I'm not sure the Gems would be too happy about hearing that you're going to the moon."

Steven grinned deviously. 

\---

Peridot didn't know how she had been roped into this. Piles currently surrounded her upon piles of junk, and strange odours were suddenly affecting her olfactory senses. Amethyst had apparently wanted to show her her collection of personal memorabilia she had collected over the years, and perhaps she could find something to make meep morps with. 

"So...... what do you think?" Amethyst was currently chowing on some centuries old food product, as usual.

"It is certainly.........thought-provoking." She sneered when Amethyst burped loudly.

"That would be one way to put it. For anyone who isn't a nerd, they'd call it awesome."

"Yes....well...." Peridot had nothing to say to that.

"So, have you found anything yet?" Amethyst began climbing an unusually tall pile of junk, which made Peridot squirm as she looked up.

"Not yet, but then again I've only been in this.......place for about a minute."

Amethyst had already reached the top of the mountainous pile, and she had to shout to be heard.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

"You don't expect me to climb that.....thing, do you?" Peridot balked.

"Oh come on! You only live once! Well, except for cats."

Peridot hesitantly put her foot on a broken down tv, and slowly but surely began climbing the teetering pile, until she had arrived at the peak. 

"So, what were you saying about these creatures called cats?"

"What? Oh. It's nothing, just something humans say. They say that cats have nine lives." Amethyst explained this with a bored tone while playing an old handheld game.

Peridot's nose twitched, and her eyebrows were drawn. "That doesn't make any sense. Are cats some sort of special creatures with powers?" 

"Ha! No. They're just as normal as a chicken or a dog, but they can fall large amounts of heights and still be fine."

"Hmmm." Peridot pondered on this a moment longer, and a profound silence engulfed them.

After a few seconds, Peridot noticed something underneath a pile of ragged clothes, and out of pure curiosity reached over to pull it out. 

"Wait! Don-"

Amethyst had reached out to pull Peridot back, but it was too late. The removal of the mysterious object had caused the pile of junk to collapse onto itself, and soon they were buried underneath a wave of garbage. In the chaos, Amethyst had launched herself at Peridot, and a flash of white light surrounded the room. 

"Ow!" 

"Wait why do I sound-"

"Your voice sounds-"

The fusion garbled a bunch of nonsensical phrases before realising what had happened and soon they had both unfused.

"Dude! Did we just fuse?!" Amethyst jumped up excitedly.

Peridot was looking at her arms with wide eyes. "It seems that way....." 

"Why didn't you tell me you could fuse?"

"I didn't even know that I could fuse! They told me that era 2 Peridots couldn't do fusion, so I never tried....." Peridot was still staring at her hands, her head bowed and a million thoughts running through her head.

"Who's they?" Amethyst questioned, sitting down opposite Peridot in a crossed-leg position.

"Homeworld! Who else?" Peridot seethed, finally meeting Amethyst's eyes with a glowering look.

"Woah P-Dot, what's wrong?"

"Everything! First, they tell me that I have no powers. Then they tell me that I can't fuse. Let me guess. I could shapeshift this whole time as well? Right?" Peridot had risen and begun grumbling under her breath while walking in circles.

"Calm d-"

Amethyst's previous train of thought had been interrupted when she noticed that Peridot had something clasped in her right hand.

"What's that in your hand?"

"What hand!?" Peridot halted in her movements to hiss at Amethyst.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Check your right hand, you dummy."

"There's nothi- Oh."

Peridot had finally noticed that there was, in fact, something in her right hand, and in her ramblings, she hadn't seen that she had a firm grip on it.

On close inspection, her heart gave a giddy little lurch as she realised that it was a-

"Is this a tape recorder?"

"That must have been what you pulled out of the pile. Oh and thanks for that, by the way." Amethyst was looking nonchalantly at her nails.

"Well....can I trade you for it?" Peridot asked pleadingly, still holding the tape recorder in a vice grip.

"Nah. You can have it, it probably doesn't even work anyway."

Despite this, nothing could put a damper on Peridot's mood as she held the tape recorder to her chest and chuckled giddily under her breath.

\---

The tape recorder had in fact, failed to work at first, as Peridot hopelessly pushed at the buttons, but then as if from her sheer force of will, it started working.

"Log Date 7 43 2,

I've just discovered that I have the ability to attempt and do fusion. I discovered this by accident while falling down a pile of garbage and I ended up fused with Amethyst. All this time, Homeworld has been feeding me lies, and I gobbled them up like...like..... like a clod!" Peridot took a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair.

"I don't regret calling yellow diamond a clod for this exact reason. Currently, I am situated in Steven's bathroom, and while I am slightly disgusted at the events that partake here, I am glad to have a temporary home. Last week, I had my first official mission with the crystal gems, and I even managed to poof a corrupted gem with my ferrokinesis. Can you believe that? Me! Peridot! I was like BAM! and then KAPOW! And finally, the fus- Garnet said that she was proud of my abilities! Well.... she didn't say that exactly, but she implied it! I am now officially a member of the crystal gems. Peridot."

Peridot sighed, although she loved her new tape recorder, it reminded her of a certain someone. She hadn't thought of her all day, which was a rarity in itself, but looking at the tape recorder brought in a flood of memories. She put the tape recorder on the sink and huddled in the bath next to pumpkin. Then she closed her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

"Absolutely not!"

"Awwww why not?" Steven asked petulantly.

Pearl was currently slack-jawed, she couldn't believe that Steven was asking this question.

"Why not? I- You-" Pearl began spluttering, and it took her a few seconds to form a cohesive sentence.

"Steven, the last time you were on the moon, you got lost in space, and you almost died! How could you ask that question?" Pearl pinched her nose, shaking her head.

"Yeah, but this is different than last time," Steven muttered unconvincingly.

Pearl crossed her arms and looked down at Steven with an unimpressed gaze.

"Oh really? How?" 

Steven hesitated. "Well..... this time I promise to be more careful."

"That's not a good enough answer, Steven." Pearl sighed, then a question formed on her lips.

"Why would you want to go to the moon anyway?" Pearl tilted her head curiously at him.

"Um....the beautiful view?" Steven blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

Unfortunately, Pearl was not convinced.

"Steven, you're a bad liar." She deadpanned.

"What? Look, I can't really tell you why, but this is really important, I swear!" Steven cried, plucking at the cuff of his shirt.

Pearl decided to humour him. "Let's say I agree. How do you propose I can get you there, exactly?"

Steven grinned cheekily. "Just build a giant spaceship like you did last time!" 

"Yes, because that went well. Look, Steven," She bent down to a crouching position and gazed at Steven eye-level.

"I can't help you unless you tell me why you want to go to the moon so badly." She said while maintaining eye contact.

Steven huffed impatiently and looked away. "Can't you just trust me?"

Pearl sighed once more and shook her head. "It's not a question of trust, Steven, but I can't just risk your safety like that without at least knowing why."

"You know what? Forget it. I'll find another way to the moon myself." Steven shook himself out of her grip and barged out of the house.

"I'm sure you will," Pearl muttered under her breath, as she pinched her forehead.

\---

"I can't believe her!"

Steven was currently pacing in Connie's room, fuming.

"What did you expect?" Connie was sitting on her bed opposite him, only half paying attention to him while she scribbled on her notebook.

"I expected her to at least trust me. Now Lapis will probably have left before I arrive at the moon if I ever do." Steven stopped pacing and sat down next to Connie, his head in his hands. 

Connie put down her blue pen and craned her neck to be able to look at Steven. "Why don't you just tell her why you're going?"

"I can't risk one of the Crystal Gems telling Peridot. They're not exactly subtle." Steven mumbled nonchalantly. 

A few seconds of silence passed, as Connie put a finger to her lips.

"What's so bad about Peridot finding out?"

"You know how well she's been doing lately, and I don't want to get her hopes up just in case Lapis leaves to another planet."

Connie hummed thoughtfully. Then, her eyes flickered in recognition.

"Steven?"

"What?" His response was muffled because he still had his head in his hands.

"Who do you know who owns a giant spaceship?"

Steven gasped. He couldn't believe he didn't see it before and now felt like a rock had been thrown at his head.

"Lars!" 

"Exactly.

"Connie, you're a genius," Steven said as he hugged her.

\---

This was currently the fifth mission that Peridot had tagged along with the crystal gems, and she was already getting the hang of this ''fighting'' and ''winning'' thing. They were currently searching for an ancient gem artefact in an uncharted island filled with multiple hazards which would usually send Peridot cowering in fear, but not this time. This time, she may not have had her limb enhancers, but she had herself and her newly developed powers. They were currently on a scraggly slope scattered with boulders and trees, and there was a companionable silence in the atmosphere. Peridot was in a joyful mood today, as she had just been notified that there was going to be a Camp Pining Hearts reboot soon.

"Hopefully, they'll finally kick Paulette off the show, and Pierre will be brought back. I still can't believe that they kicked him off the show in season 6."

"Well, he had to go see his dying grandmother, so he had no other choice but to leave," said Steven, as he smacked at an incoming branch with a stick.

"Pah! Dying grandmother! What even is a grandmother anyway? No, they were just intimidated by Pierre's superior intellect and brutish strength, he's too good for them anyway." For a while, Peridot continued prattling on, until she was interrupted by Garnet.

"I heard something."

Everyone halted in their tracks and bent their heads down to listen, but not a whisper of wind could be heard, and so they continued their journey. A few seconds later, Garnet stopped them again, but nothing could be heard.

"It's strangely quiet," Garnet observed while cupping her chin.

Amethyst nodded sagely. "Yeah, shouldn't there be some birds squawking or something? Oh wait, I forgot about Pearl."

"Amethyst!" Pearl goaded.

"Quiet-"

A tremendous bone-chilling shriek abruptly resounded around them, as not one, but three creatures came hurtling down in their path.

"Take cover!" Garnet commanded as she summoned her huge gauntlets and leapt at the one in the centre.

Peridot and Pearl simultaneously decided to attack the one on the left, and Peridot now recognised the creature as a corrupted emerald. It had molten grey feathers, like a wild bird, and four keen eyes were staring her down. Its body was malformed, and it had streaks of green like burning paint. It stood on four legs with terrifying claws protruding from its feet. Peridot couldn't sense any metal anywhere, but luckily she had some shards of metal stored in her gem, just in case, and she pulled them out of her gem as quickly as she could. Pearl had already coalesced a blue spear, and she began to surround the gem with a focused intent in her eyes. In the meantime, Peridot tried to aim at the gem, but it was moving too fast, and she didn't want to risk hitting Pearl. Steven was currently trying to hold down a corrupted rutile, when it suddenly sprang free from his grip and charged in the direction of Peridot.

"Peridot! Watch Out!"

"Huh?"

Peridot turned away from the corrupted emerald to find the corrupted rutile charging at her at whirlwind speed, so she hurled the sharp pieces of metal at it. Unfortunately, this didn't stop its oncoming onslaught, so Peridot darted through the trees, hoping to escape the fervent creature. She kept on bolting through the scarce forest, ignoring the multitude of branches which kept pummeling her face along the way, but then she tripped on undergrowth and found herself falling, and falling, and falling. And then black.

"Peridot? Peridot!"

Steven was shouting desperately among the trees, trying to find the little green gem, but to no avail. They had successfully poofed two gems and had guessed that Peridot had managed to beat the last one, but there was still no sign of her, and Steven was getting worried.

"Nothing?" Amethyst queried, with concern in her eyes.

Steven sighed disappointedly. "Nothing."

"Maybe she went around?" Pearl asked hopefully, searching for footprints.

Garnet shook her head. "No, she's sure to have been here. I saw it." 

"Oh look, there's the edge of the cliff!" Steven pointed at the edge, where a humongous tree with dirt-stained bark was situated.

Steven scuttled over to it and peeked over, teetering on edge.

"Steven, be careful!" Pearl chastised.

All he could see was forest greenery down below him, and a lake filled with azure stillness, but no sign of Peridot. He was about to give up when he noticed something glittering on a patch of dry dirt near the lake.

"Oh my god! Peridot!"

The Crystal Gems had all scampered down the slope of the mountainous terrain and arrived near the lake, where Steven was presently cradling the green gem in his hands. 

Garnet adjusted her visor and stared thoughtfully at the gem.

"It's a miracle that she isn't cracked. That was a long drop."

"Yeah, a HUUUUGE drop, bigger than the one near the temple. What is Peridot even made of?" Amethyst asked, looking at the cliffs overhead in awe.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that she's fine, and everyone's fine, and we should all go home and come back tomorrow." Pearl was still a bit shaken up, both from realising that Peridot had poofed and from the beating she'd took from the corrupted emerald.

"Agreed. It's been a long day." Garnet said.

\---


	4. Chapter 4

Steven was currently sitting in the beach house with his head on his knees, staring at the gem which he had laid on the bed in front of a camp pining hearts rerun. Pumpkin was sniffling next to Peridot's gem, and Steven felt a surge of sympathy within him, so he cradled her in his arms.

"Oh Pumpkin, Peridot is still in there, I promise. She'll be here, sooner than soon. I hope....." He sighed. He always hated whenever one of the gems was poofed, whether it was Amethyst, Pearl, Ruby or Sapphire, even though he knew that they would eventually reform and return as a bigger and better gem. However, he felt it more when Peridot poofed because he'd learned that it was tough to get her to poof, as seen when they had captured their first corrupted gem in the kindergarten. That's why he had taken it as such a surprise when he'd realised that Peridot had returned to her basic form. He wasn't expecting Peridot to return immediately, but he still hoped incessantly. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when Pumpkin began barking in his ear.

"Pumpkin, what-"

Pumpkin jumped out of his arms to go near the gem, which was emitting a harsh green light and watched with bated breath.

Peridot's form was slowly but surely forming, and finally a dazed and confused Peridot appeared.

''Umm, where am I?''

"Peridot!" Steven engulfed her in a tight hug, which left her wheezing.

"Steven- You're- Choking- Me-" 

Steven finally let go of her, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Haha, sorry Peridot."

"So, what happened..... and why am I being tortured like this?"

Steven scratched at his neck. "Um....tortured?"

Peridot waved her finger angrily at the tv. "It's season 5 of camp pining hearts, and officially the worst season of them all!" She began rubbing her temples and then continued in a calmer, more serious tone. "I swore never to watch it again, ever since I watched it for the seventh time."

"Seventh time?" Steven repeated blankly.

Peridot sheepishly looked away. "Well, I had to make sure that it wasn't worth my time first, you know. Also, I needed to analyse the intense subtext between Pierre and Percy."

"Uh, right. Well, you know you were poofed right?" Steven asked, changing the subject efficiently because as much as he loved Peridot, he didn't want to hear about the 10-page essay she had written about Pierre and Percy's ''chemistry''. Once was enough.

"Of course I know that. How else would I have been able to design my new outfit?" Peridot asked incredulously, pointing to her body.

"Wait, what?"

Steven had been so immersed in his excitement, that he hadn't even noticed that Peridot's outfit had changed. It now had a yellow star in place of the yellow diamond, but other than that, it was mostly the same, other than a few minor changes. Also, he had noticed that she had gotten......taller?

"Wow! Cool! You're an official crystal gem now!"

"Yep. That was the idea." Peridot beamed proudly, but it turned into a grimace when Pumpkin leapt onto her and began licking her face.

"Pumpkin! Stop it!" Steven chuckled at Peridot's stern tone, as Pumpkin began thrashing even more in response.

Peridot began giggling as well and gave it a little kiss on its head. "Aw, I missed you too, veggie-head."

"So, did you manage to find the gem artefact?" Peridot had queried after they had sat down to play a fighting video game. 

"Nope... we went home after you poofed. But the good news is, we managed to bubble the corrupted gems." 

"Hmmm." Peridot hummed thoughtfully, as she began bashing down his character.

Steven was ultimately defeated. "Welp. Looks like you won." 

He heard no response from Peridot, and so he twisted his head to peek at the green gem, who was currently deep in her thoughts.

"Peridot?"

"Steven.... can I ask you something?" Peridot was gazing down at her controller and fiddling with its buttons.

He hesitated. "Um..sure, what is it?"

Peridot bit her lip nervously before blurting out,"What does fusion mean to you?"

At first, there was a sudden silence, and then Steven pinched the skin of his wrist to check if he was actually hearing this and not dreaming, before clearing his throat and trying to maintain a neutral expression.

"Um....well...Peridot, where is this coming from exactly?" Steven could see that Peridot had a darker hue scattered across her cheeks, so he knew this was still an uncomfortable subject for her.

"Well......last week I....... I sort of fused with Amethyst........accidentally." She confessed timidly, still fiddling with the controller.

Steven's mouth abruptly widened into a cheerful smile. "What? Peridot, that's great!"

Peridot looked up from her controller to gawk at Steven with a raised eyebrow. "And why is that exactly?"

Steven studied Peridot's face intently. "Well, now you know for sure that you can fuse. That's good......right?" He finished uncertainly.

Peridot put her pointer finger to her lips thoughtfully and looked over his shoulder. "I guess.....but......I thought fusion was supposed to be this special thing, and the fact that it happened, just like that, makes me doubt whether it's really as important as gems like Garnet make it out to be." She finally stopped looking over Steven's shoulder and met his curious gaze.

"Peridot." 

"Eeek!" Peridot shrieked as she spun around and leapt to her feet.

"Nice to see you, too." Garnet had a subtle smirk on her face as she peeked at Steven over Peridot's shoulder, who had a hand cupped around his mouth, failing to keep his snickering from escaping.

Peridot glowered at Garnet. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. I heard that you were interested in fusion."

Peridot sat down on Steven's bed impassively, crossing her legs underneath her and glaring at Garnet's blank face.

"How long have you been eavesdropping?"

"Well, when I say heard, I don't mean that in a literal sense." Garnet hinted while adjusting her visor and winking at Peridot cheekily.

Peridot's lips were taut in an unimpressed line. "Right."

"Peridot, fusion happens for a multitude of reasons. It can happen out of love, out of safety, and out of friendship. It doesn't always happen when we want it to, and sometimes it happens when we don't want it to. However, there doesn't always have to be a special reason behind it." 

"Yeah. Like, remember when I fused with Amethyst, and we made Smoky Quartz?" Steven piped up, his eyes transfixed on a racing car video game.

Peridot nodded hesitatingly.

"See, Steven and Amethyst may have managed to fuse thanks to their strong friendship, but it is mostly due to the necessity of having to defeat Jasper that they fused," Garnet explained calmly.

Peridot huffed impatiently. "What's your point?"

"My point is, that you don't have to put your fusion with Amethyst on a special pedestal. You might have fused, but it's only because you were feeling threatened or in danger. You don't need to feel bad just because you didn't do it properly or unfused badly."

"I suppose what you're saying makes sense....." Peridot mumbled thoughtfully.

Garnet considered Peridot's sad expression and sighed. "You still look troubled."

"It's just that...... I was hoping that my first fusion would be with......"

"Lapis."

Peridot blushed and looked away timidly."Yeah."

"I see...."

Peridot scoffed. "And?"

Garnet scratched her chin and looked perplexedly down at the green gem. "I don't see what you're trying to say here."

"Let me make it clearer for you." Peridot began sardonically. Lapis was trapped in an unhealthy, possibly destructive fusion for seven months, and yet I still wanted to fuse with her. You don't see anything wrong with that?" Peridot spluttered, waving her hands around wildly to mimic the absurdity of it all.

"Ah. So you feel guilty that you wanted to fuse with her, because of her bad experiences with fusion?" Garnet was beginning to see the real problem now.

"Me? It doesn't matter what I feel! What matters is that I am a stupid clod, who-" She began gesturing incessantly at herself and was about to erupt into a whole speech, but she was interrupted by Garnet's clear voice.

"Peridot. Stop it." Garnet ordered. Her face indicated nothing.

"But I-"

"No. Listen to me. You are not a clod. And you are not stupid. You have your own thoughts and your opinions, and you shouldn't feel guilty about having them. "

"I-" Peridot began stammering helplessly, while Steven watched the scene before him with bewildered eyes.

"This isn't homeworld. You are your own gem, and you don't need to feel guilty about being yourself anymore. Nobody's going to get angry at you for saying what you feel." Garnet said in a firm voice, now looking directly down at Peridot.

Peridot had a startled expression on her face. "I- You're right. I'm sorry." She murmured.

"Don't be. I know how hard it is to break away from homeworld's mentality, trust me."

"I don't know why I'm acting like this...." Peridot laid her head on her bent knees, twisting her head to look at Garnet.

"We all have off days, even me." Garnet broke out in a warm-hearted grin, and Peridot couldn't help but reciprocate.


	5. Chapter 5

"Steven, I'm not going in there."

"Oh come on! It's completely safe, I promise!" Steven was currently trying to convince Peridot to enter lion's mane, for some unknown reason.

"Steven, did you hit your head or something? I know humans can be fragile, but I haven't as yet seen one who has tried to pull me into a lion's mane!" Peridot exclaimed, backing away slowly.

"If you're too scared, then...... you're a chicken!" Steven poked his tongue out at her, beginning to waves his arms in a silly imitation of a chicken.

Peridot was shocked and deeply offended. "How dare you?! I am not a chicken!"

Steven ignored her and began running around the room squawking and repeating ''Chicken!" over and over in an annoying tone.

Peridot pinched her nose and grumbled under her breath, before interrupting Steven's charade.

"Oh ALRIGHT! I'll climb into this flea-ridden creature's mane if you want me to do it so badly." She conceded, mentally slapping herself.

"Yay!" Steven fist pumped the air, and then yanked Peridot's hand and pulled her inside the white mane.

"Oh, my stars!" Peridot squeaked, as she was abruptly pulled down a vortex and felt soft grass beneath her feet, which as she perused around, was of a pink hue.

"Where are we?" She questioned, glancing around uneasily.

Steven ignored her question, as he led her through the field and into another patch of almost identical pink grass, and he dived under it, pulling her along.

"What the-"

She found herself in what looked like a metal construction, and she almost fell flat on her face when she felt it move.

"Steven!" The unexpected voice of a stranger made her jump, and she was even more perplexed when she turned around to find a pink human dressed in what seemed to be high ranking gem clothing.

"Hey Lars, I want you to meet someone. This is Peridot." Steven motioned to Peridot, who was studying the ship with interest.

Lars then noticed the green gem who was standing shoulder to shoulder with Steven. "So this is the gem you mentioned in that letter you wrote me." He noted.

"Yep," Steven confirmed.

"Why are you pink? And is that high ranking clothing I'm seeing?" Peridot couldn't contain the barrage of questions she had.

Lars flashed a toothy grin."It's a long story."

Peridot realised that there was something very familiar about the metal construction she was currently housed in. "Wait a minute. Is this an emerald warship? What is happening?" She looked behind her and saw three unknown gems driving the ship.

"Well, Lars and the Off Colours need to find a way to get to Earth, but the nova thrusters need repairs," Steven said.

"The Off Colours?"

A mousy voice piped up from somewhere in the ship. "Everybody! I have wonderful news! I foresee that Steven will bring about a Peridot upon our ship."

Peridot felt eyes on her, and as she craned her neck, she realised that three gems were staring at her curiously. Peridot shuffled her feet uncomfortably at their gazes, but soon she was being besieged with greetings.

They all introduced themselves to her as Padparadscha, the Rutile twins and Rhodonite.

Peridot was already feeling a bit overwhelmed, but then another voice echoed through the room.

"Who......is......this?" The voice drawled.

Peridot's eyes bulged out of her sockets, as a six gem fusion came into view. She couldn't believe that it was even possible for that many gems to fuse, and yet here was the definite proof. 

"This is Peridot, she's from Homeworld and is staying on Earth. She also called Yellow Diamond a clod." Steven added.

"Did you have to add that last part, Steven?" Peridot hissed at him, but that didn't damper his mischievous smile from forming.

Rhodonite gasped and covered her mouth with a shaking hand. "You called Yellow Diamond a clod? To her face?!"

"Well....yes," Peridot said, scratching her neck sheepishly.

"You......must......be......very.......brave......" The six fusion gem smiled warmly at Peridot, making her eyebrows squeeze together. 

"Not really. It was through a diamond communicator." She didn't mention that she had had a complete breakdown after the event.

"Yeah, but still, I could never imagine doing that." One of the rutile twins said, looking at Peridot with amazement in her eyes.

"Me neither." The other twin agreed.

Peridot wasn't used to being the centre of attention, and so she blushed madly at their compliments, but luckily Steven came to her rescue.

"So, have you guys repaired the nova thrusters yet?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid, the asteroid mine was a dead end, and it was filled with too many agates for us to be able to search it properly," Rhodonite said, as she sat down to continue piloting the ship.

"Did you say that the Nova thrusters are broken?" Peridot asked. 

Lars' eyes filled to the brim with excitement. "Yeah, why?"

Peridot cupped her chin and mulled over the thoughts in her head. She wasn't used to repairing ships, as that hadn't been her main occupation on homeworld, but she had some experience with them. A similar situation had happened to her when she'd been moved to another colony, and she remembered the captain repairing them just by dismantling old technology.

"I could try something."

\---

12 hours later, the Nova thrusters were now fully repaired and could function correctly, at least for some time. She had gotten the tools she needed by dissecting pieces of junk that were stored in Amethyst's room. As payment, she had agreed to acquire 50 boxes of doughnuts.

"I can't believe that you managed to repair these things with junk," Steven said, as he sat on an unoccupied seat. 

Peridot felt her ego inflate and she grinned smugly. "Fixing things is just what I do."

As she said her goodbyes and reentered Lars's hair, which was still an awkward experience, Steven crept up to Lars, and after making sure that Peridot had indeed left, he tapped him on his shoulder.

"Lars, I was just wondering, before you return to Earth, can you make a quick stop at the moon?"

Lars shot a wide-eyed look at Steven. "The moon?! Why would you want to go there? There's nothing but rocks and holes."

"That's not important! Please, can you stop there for a while? It won't take long, I promise." Steven crossed his two fingers beneath his back and held his breath.

"Anything for you, Steven. We'll be there soon enough."


	6. Chapter 6

"Log Date 7 50 2,

On my last mission with the Crystal Gems, I accidentally got poofed because I fell down a cliff, which made me realize that I need to be more careful around heights, but other than that, while I was reforming, I designed my form to look more like that of a crystal gem, which impressed Steven immensely. I also met a few of Steven's friends that I didn't know he had, including a pink human and a fusion made up of 6 gems! Can you believe that? I couldn't manage to be fused to another gem for a period longer than 2 seconds, yet they manage to keep themselves fused for all that time? I wonder what their secret is......"

She frowned, and as she was about to enter into ''thinking'' mode, there was a light knocking on the door.

She concluded her log with a short, "Peridot." and then scampered over to open the door. Pearl stood there with a half-raised fist and surprise in her eyes, and Peridot could have laughed if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't want to wake Pumpkin who was sleeping in the toilet.

"Yes?" She and Pearl may have been on the same team now, but they still weren't close despite their similarities, because they didn't find much to talk about most of the time.

Pearl briefly glimpsed downward and noticed the star on the forefront of her outfit. "Oh, I see you changed your outfit. Very resplendent."

"Wow. Thanks!" Peridot grinned proudly, even though she had no idea what that word meant.

Pearl cleared her throat daintily. "Can you come outside for a moment?"

"Affirmative." Peridot followed her out of the bathroom, closing the door softly behind her as to not alert Pumpkin, and saw that Amethyst was messily eating doughnuts on the couch.

"Amethyst! Can you not-" Pearl had been about to chastise her when Amethyst burped in her face.

Pearl's face was stuck in midair, her eye twitching, while Amethyst cackled loudly, and Peridot stood there awkwardly, watching the scene take place.

"That's disgusting! What I was about to say was, can you please stop leaving crumbs everywhere? It will attract rodents." Pearl was shuddering from disgust.

"Whatever." Amethyst rolled her eyes as she popped another doughnut in her sugar encrusted mouth.

"As much as I am enjoying this, why was I called here?" Asked Peridot, who had gotten tired of lurking in the background and decided to perch on one of the stools.

Pearl sat on the stool adjacent to her and began fixing her hair. "We just wanted to ask you, have you seen Steven lately?"

That was a tough question. The last time she had seen Steven had been on the emerald ship. She had left him there, but she didn't remember him following her and had just assumed that he had wanted to talk to Lars in private or something like that. It had been a few hours, but maybe he did come back and had gone to spend time with his human friend, Connie? Either way, she didn't want to tell them that Steven had been on a big alien spaceship in the middle of the universe a few hours earlier. She didn't feel like hearing Pearl's incessant whining, and she was sure that Steven wouldn't want that information divulged.

"Ah.. yes, I saw Steven...just now in fact! He said he was going to see his human friend, Connie, and he told me that if anything happens, he is not to be disturbed." Peridot subtly wiped the sweat that had gathered on her forehead, hoping that she sounded convincing enough for Pearl to let it go.

"Oh, okay." Pearl sighed in relief, and for a short moment Peridot felt a stab of guilt, but it was mostly overshadowed by the triumph of getting away with her lie.

Pearl continued with a relieved smile. "I'm glad. I was beginning to get worried for a second. He usually never misses lunch." Peridot winced, the guilt slowly crawling through her veins.

They suddenly heard the door open, and all the gems turned around to face the intruder.

"Where's Steven?" It was Connie, and she was lugging a pink sword on her shoulder.

Pearl slowly turned away from Connie, and scowled at Peridot, her face set in stone and her eyes filling with rage.

Peridot had the decency to look scared and shrunk into herself.

\---

"Are we there yet?"

"Not yet.

"Are we there yet now?"

Lars sighed. "No."

"Are we-"

"Yes!" Rhodonite chuckled, as she pointed at the white blob that had appeared in a massive pool of black.

Lars nodded. "Alright. Steven, when we arrive, we'll stay there and let you deal with whatever you have that you need to deal with."

"Sounds good to me." Steven cracked a smile. He was feeling jittery all of a sudden, and he didn't know why. Lapis was his friend. He had no reason to be so nervous. It hadn't been a long time, by gem standards, but by human standards, it had been months since he had last seen her, and that was long enough. He didn't know what to say to her and wondered if he should have prepared some sort of script, but then he shook the thought away as if it burned him. No, that wasn't his style, he usually improvised as things were thrown at him, and this time was no different. He'd find a way to make things right, he always did. 

His trance was broken as he heard the ship lower its wings, and he found that they were landing on a particularly big crater. Now, he had to figure out how he was going to keep himself on the moon without flying off like the last time he had been there.

"Do you guys have any long rope I can use?"

Lars snickered. "Long rope? No, but I do have this gravity belt that you can tie around yourself to keep your feet on the ground. You can adjust it, here. "

Lars got up from his captain's chair and sauntered to a hidden nook in the ship, and before long he had returned with a complicated looking belt in his hands.

"Even better!"

"I thought you wanted the rope?" Lars mocked with a smug smile, throwing the cape over his shoulder.

Steven's smile dropped. "Very funny, Lars."

Steven wrapped the belt around him until it fit snugly and he made sure that it wouldn't fall while he was on the moon, by jumping around a little.

"How will you be able to breathe?" Lars inquired, sitting himself back down and resting his elbow on the armrest.

Steven simply formed a pink bubble around his head and grinned at Lars.

"I forgot about that. Well, good luck!" Lars waved as a metallic door was revealed, and Steven shouted goodbyes as he departed into the darkness.

\---

Lapis had seen the big green warship coming from a mile away. They had come for her. She didn't know who, but whoever it was, they were armed. Her stomach dropped, and she leapt up to her feet, beginning to pace aimlessly. Her instincts told her to fly off, but then they'd see the barn easily, and come to investigate. She contemplated leaving without it, but she couldn't do it. Coming back to find it destroyed would have been devastating. As she peered around nervously, an idea sprung up in her head, a stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless.

Steven had been walking around the moon for about ten minutes now, but he hadn't seen a sign of the barn anywhere. A significant indentation on the ground finally caught his eye, and he ran up to it, hoping to be wrong.

"Oh no!" He was too late. Lapis had already flown off, along with the barn.

He fell on his knees and laid his hands on the empty crater, the disappointment inside him unbearable. He couldn't face Lars or the Off Colours right now, so instead, he walked to where the moon base was, hoping to find some solace there.

As he was sulking, he wondered on which planet Lapis would, in theory, decide to move to. Certainly a water-based planet, and that took many off his list, but then again there were only a handful of planets he knew of, off the top of his head. If Lapis had left the moon, then she was guaranteed to make herself hard to find, so she'd have to have gone to an incredibly distant planet, in another galaxy. Lapis wasn't coming back after all, and he felt gullible, that he'd thought Lapis would stay on the moon forever. However, he felt that he'd made a good decision by not telling Peridot about his news, as he didn't want to find out her reaction if he'd come back without Lapis by his side.

Without knowing, he found himself entering the moon base with his head lowered and a sad frown etched on his face. His steps echoed loudly as he climbed the stairs all the way up to the top room, where a raised platform, along with a small chair and a dashboard were situated. He was about to sit on the chair, but then he noticed a figure sitting rigidly on it.

"Hello?"

Lapis recognised the voice immediately.

"Steven?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Lapis?!"

Lapis had leapt up from the chair and landed in front of Steven with a soft thump. "Steven, what are you doing here?!" He needed to leave, right now. 

"I'm here to see you! Why else?" Steven's whole face had lit up with joy at the sight of Lapis.

Lapis was staring nervously over his shoulder. "Steven, you have to leave. They've come for me."

"What do you mean?" Steven cocked his head at her. "What do you mean?" But then his face morphed into one of understanding. 

"Ohhhh... are you talking about the emerald ship? That's just Lars and the Off Colours, without it I wouldn't have even arrived here." Steven watched as the nervous energy melted off Lapis's body as he explained, but she still stood stiffly in the middle of the room.

Lapis pursued her lips in thought, but she couldn't recall Steven ever mentioning these people. "Off Colours? Lars?" 

Steven looked away. "Uh. Nevermind that, I'll explain later."

"How did you even know I was here?" Lapis inquired, folding her arms.

"Oh, I saw the barn through a high powered telescope." He said nonchalantly, but then he remembered. "Speaking of which, where is the barn?"

Lapis's cheeks flushed, and she gingerly hid her arms behind her back.

"I'll show you." She held out a lithe hand to Steven, and soon they were flying through an open window. They didn't need to fly far, as behind the moon base was a deep crater, and in it the barn's roof was peeking through, like a red flag.

"That isn't exactly subtle, Lapis....."

Lapis snorted, but there was still a faint blush on her cheeks. "I panicked...."

Soon they had landed on the truck that was jutting out of the barn, and Steven wanted to talk about the elephant in the room (although technically, the elephant on the moon.) 

"Lapis-"

"Steven, I know what you're going to say." She had turned around, her back facing him, so he couldn't see her facial expression.

"You do?"

"Yes. You want me to return to Earth, right? I've made up my mind, and as soon as I find a planet I can actually live in, I'll leave." Her voice quivered at the end, as she studied a space rock in detail.

"I think you're lying, Lapis." He deadpanned.

She spun around briskly, looking at Steven quizzically with her mouth wide open.

"What did you say?"

"I think, that deep down inside, you know that if you really wanted to leave, you would have left the minute you left earth, but you didn't. Instead, you chose the closest thing to Earth to stay on."

Lapis hated confrontation. That was a fact. And she also hated that Steven was telling the truth. She tried to form a blank expression on her face, despite the multitude of feelings that were rising to the surface.

"Steven, I can't go back there." She said, stepping away and clenching her fists tightly against her body.

"Yes, you can! It's easy, just-"

Lapis was trying to keep calm, but her temper was getting hotter by the minute. "Steven it's not as simple as you're making it out to be. Not everything can be solved that easily." 

Steven had known that this would not be as easy as he'd hoped, but hopefully, he'd manage to convince her to return to Earth by convincing her that she had the power to do it. He knew that the reason she was afraid was because she'd been on Earth during the rebellion.

"Why not? I've seen your powers! I know you can fight and I know you have what it takes!" Lapis shook her head and shut her eyes.

"I can't...." She muttered. Her fingernails were digging into her palms, but she didn't care.

"Yes, you can!" Steven shouted frustratingly.

"I can't face her, Steven!" Lapis exploded, shocking them both into a startling silence.

After a few tense seconds, Steven dared to peek at her again and saw that a few tears had sneaked a trail down her face. "Is this what this is all about?"

Lapis said nothing, looking somberly at the moon base and closing her eyes. She didn't like that Steven had forced that out of her, but she was admittedly more scared of seeing Peridot than being on Earth. She'd had a lot of time to think, and she'd reached a conclusion about the Diamonds. Despite her initial panic, she'd realised that if the Diamonds were to come for Steven, they would have done so the minute he'd left, but they hadn't, even though they probably had the technology to find him in a flash. 

There was a strong possibility that they weren't coming at all, either because they were biding their time or they didn't want to. Lapis didn't care, and she just wanted things to return to normal. She just wanted Peridot back. The stronger sense of longing muffled her fear of the diamonds. Yes, that was the feeling that she had failed to decipher earlier.

"She misses you, you know? She tries to hide it, but she does. Every day."

Lapis looked down at her feet guiltily. "She does?"

Steven smiled sadly. "Yeah, and Pumpkin too." A corner of her lip twitched at that. 

"You should have seen her face when I left, Steven. She'll hate me, I just know it." Lapis said woefully, still gazing intently at her feet.

"I did see it. I was there, remember?"

"Oh." Lapis sighed.

"Lapis, Peridot can never hate you, I don't know where you get these ideas from."

Lapis met his intense gaze with a doubtful look of her own. "I don't know what I'll even say if I see her."

"That doesn't matter. Just come back, that's enough for now."

Lapis let out a wistful sigh and sat down on the tattered mattress.

"What do you say?"

Lapis opened her eyes to see an outstretched hand in front of her. There was no time to pace endlessly. She needed to decide right now, whether she wanted to stay on this floating piece of rock, or whether to return home.

Lapis took the final plunge. "Alright."

\---

Steven had returned to the emerald ship with Lapis in tow because he didn't want to leave her alone, just in case she changed her mind and decided to leave after all. 

"Steven, you're back!" Lars had jumped excitedly from his seat at the sight of Steven entering the ship. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," Steven said as he subtly gestured at Lapis.

"Another.....gem...." Flourite drawled, looking at Lapis appraisingly.

"He-"

"Everyone! I have foreseen something very important! Steven will bring a gem from blue diamond's court, here on the ship!" Padparadscha exclaimed, just as Lapis was about to introduce herself.

One of the Rutile twins groaned. "We know, Padparadscha. It already happened."

"Who are you?" Rhodonite asked as she swerved her seat to study the newcomer.

Lapis took a moment to be able to take in everything around her and counted five gems and one strange looking human with a cape.

"I'm Lapis. Lapis Lazuli."

They all began to introduce themselves to her with enthusiasm, making her dizzy, until Flourite stepped in.

"Slow........down.......you'll.......overwhelm......the.......poor......thing." 

Rhodonite stared at Lapis carefully. "Hmmm.... you sure are quiet compared to the other one Steven brought here."

Padparadscha swatted at Rhodonite playfully. "Rhodonite! That's rude!"

Rhodonite looked incredulously at the tiny gem, before turning back to Lapis, apologetically. "What? Oh. It wasn't an insult, I swear! If I offended you, I'm sorry, I don't always know what I'm saying half the time, I jus-"

Lapis snorted and began laughing freely, and Rhodonite just looked at her confusedly.

"It- It's fine. I promise." Lapis assured her, as she tried to stifle her snorts.

Steven giggled nervously as he pulled Lapis away from the commotion.

"So, Steven, ready to head back to Earth?" Lars asked while arranging his cape so he could sit comfortably on the captain's seat.

Steven looked at Lapis, who smiled at him uncertainly, before turning to address Lars.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd leave the ship here-"

Lars gasped, sitting up shakingly. "What?! Leave this ship here?" He spluttered.

"Yeah, and then-" 

Lars scoffed, eyeing Steven while tugging at his shirt collar. "And then what? How do you suppose we can get back to Earth?"

"Well, I figured that the ship is too big to land in beach city, so Lapis and I came up with a plan. The gems and I can use your hair and get out on the other side by using lion's mane." Steven explained calmly. He'd thought that it was a good idea, but by looking Lars' expression, he didn't like it one bit.

"Well- What about me?" 

"Lapis can fly you there, easily." Steven shrugged.

"Fl- Fly me there?! Steven are you crazy?!" Lars asked indignantly, standing up from his seat.

Lapis had a blank expression on her face. "What's the problem?"

"What's the problem?! There's a difference between flying in a ship and being flown over Earth's atmosphere with no parachute!"

Lapis was still staring blankly at Lars, and her confusion was evident. "What's a parachute?"

Lars let out a frustrated noise. "Arghh!"

"I predict that Captain Lars will have a small tantrum." Padparadscha proclaimed loudly.


	8. Chapter 8

Both Pearl and Garnet were currently interrogating Peridot, and she wished she was anywhere else.

"Where is Steven?" Garnet asked. She had a steely gaze, and Peridot found it hard to meet it.

"I told you, I don't know!" Peridot spluttered.

Pearl's eyebrows were furrowed as she turned her head to direct her speech at Garnet. "She's lying. I just know she knows where Steven is."

"I know. I'm just trying to figure out why she won't tell us."

Peridot rubbed her forehead frustratingly. "I don't know where Steven is! Last I saw him he-" Peridot was about to invent an excuse when a bright light surrounded lion, who was currently snoozing on the floorboards.

Everyone ignored the previous interrogation and watched with rapt interest as Steven materialised.

"Steven!"

"Hey, guys." Steven was panting.

Pearl was relieved, yet also angry. "Where have you been?!"

"Well, in space fighting homeworld gems, but there's someone I'd like you all to meet."

"Wha?" Pearl stammered confusedly, as she realised that more gems were coming out of Lion's mane.

Garnet grinned and held her hands together in excitement as all the gems she had met once before coalesced before her.

Pearl fainted, a few seconds after Amethyst began cheering and dancing around the Rutile twins.

"Wow, you guys are so cool!" Amethyst was gazing up at them with fascination in her eyes. The Rutile twins both looked at each other unabashedly, and their crimson cheeks reddened even further, if that was even possible.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Flourite," Garnet said, shaking hands with the giant gem fusion.

Flourite beamed warmly at Garnet and said in a drawling voice, "It's.......great......to.....see......you......too......Garnet......"

"Everybody! Protect the Pearl! I foresee that she will faint at a moment's notice." Padparadscha implored, who was sitting behind Rhodonite.

"And we can't forget about the lovely Padparadscha, and the charming Rhodonite, of course!"

Rhodonite covered her wide grin with a jittery hand. "Oh stop it!" She said as she tried to contain her giggle.

A few moments of silence passed, and then Padparadscha chortled and said, "Why, thank you!"

The off colours were still unfamiliar with compliments, but they were slowly getting used to them. 

A sudden tremor in the earth, made everyone hold onto the surrounding furniture, except Peridot, who had nothing to hold onto. She fell flat on her face, crashing onto the floorboards with a bang.

"Ow."

Rhodonite looked frightened. "What was that?"

Steven had fallen on an upturned bar stool and was rubbing his forehead to clear away the pain. 'That must have been Lapis with barn.' 

"Peridot, shouldn't we check that out?" Steven asked innocently while trying to maintain a vacant expression.

Peridot perused Steven's expression with a suspicious glint in her eyes."What? Why me?!"

"Something could have happened at the farm! What if the corn got destroyed!?" He gesticulated wildly, exaggerating his tone of voice.

Welp. I guess Peridot had nothing better to do anyway, so why not?

"Fine, let's go then."

Just as he had about to step out of the door, Garnet called out to him.

"Steven!"

Steven turned around in an easy manner, and he saw Garnet standing rigidly, her arms crossed.

"Yes, Garnet?" He asked hesitatingly.

"Be safe. Love You." Her face instantly melted into one of adoration, and she blew a kiss at him.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he reciprocated the kiss. "Love you too, bye!"

Then they stepped out of the temple and began walking plodding through the sand. Steven's strides were long compared to Peridot's slow stumping, and Peridot jogged to keep up with him.

Peridot began panting. "Steven, what's the hurry?"

Steven looked away. "Just worried about the crops, that's all."

"Mhm," Peridot muttered. She didn't remember Steven caring that much about corn before. 

Soon, they had reached the outskirts of Beach City and were at the foot of the hill. 

They clambered up the steep hill with some difficulty, successfully avoiding tripping on wayward rocks and branches. Peridot made sure to be extra careful, even though she was naturally clumsy, and a few minutes later she had made it to the top unscathed. As she peered at the world below her, she saw that the sun was already halfway beneath the ocean, the fiery red bleeding through the cold blue. The scene was outworldly, and it never failed to take her breath away, and for a while she just stood there, watching it with rapt interest, until Steven tapped on her shoulder.

She was a bit hesitant to walk to the farm, so she slowed down her pace, as it still hurt to the see the empty, gaping hole that had replaced what had once been her home.

As they staggered through the dry fields, a red object materialised into view, but Peridot still couldn't make out its shape. It was getting larger the closer they walked, and then Peridot halted her steps when she recognised the distinct shape of the object.

"Peridot?" Peridot was standing rigidly, and Steven was afraid to touch her in case she broke into pieces at his touch.

It couldn't be. Peridot was hallucinating. She was sure of it. Or maybe she was still encased in her gem and what had happened these last few weeks had just been a figment of her imagination, a brief idealisation of what she really wanted to happen. She hadn't actually been a part of the crystal gems. She hadn't betrayed Homeworld. She hadn't actually met Steven. She was still in Homeworld, obeying meaningless orders and roaming around an endless kindergarten. She had never climbed onto an era two ship and had never had a Lapis Lazuli as an informant. She had never landed on Earth. Nothing had ever been changed, after all.

She started running towards the barn, racing through the endless sea of yellow, until she was standing right under it, her chest heaving. Steven watched this with sudden interest, and as he caught up with Peridot, a pair of water shaped wings fluttered, and Lapis landed on a patch of dry grass in front of Peridot.

Peridot was speechless. For once in her life, she was stunned for words.

The first feeling that she could decipher was pure unbridled happiness filling that crater in her heart. Her first raw instinct was to dash into Lapis's arms and to hold on really tight, but she knew it was not that simple. Things could never go back to the way they were, she knew it. She thought about how many hours she had spent crying over the blue gem, and how her heart had been torn to pieces. A fresh wave of anger coursed through her and she almost toppled over from the unexpected intensity that she was feeling in her small body.

Lapis watched as a slew of emotions crossed over Peridot's face, until finally, her pert lips narrowed, her fists clenched and her back straightened into a rigid pose. 

"Peri-"

"Don't. Just don't." Peridot said tautly, still glaring at an exciting spot on the barn.

Lapis frowned and raised her hand in an attempt to calm the little gem down. "Just... let me explain."

Peridot laughed bitterly. "There's nothing to explain, Lazuli. You left and took the whole barn with you, with no consideration for my feelings, whatsoever. There. Is that enough of an explanation for you?" 

"I- I- It's not like that, I panicked, I didn't know-" Lapis stammered, as she wrapped her arms around herself and looked shamefully at the ground.

"Didn't know what?" 

"I didn't know what to do!" Lapis said frustratingly, clenching her hands around her sides.

"Didn't know what to do?! How about stay here and protect our home?! I believed in you, Lapis!" Peridot snapped, meeting Lapis's gaze head-on.

Lapis clutched at her chest, as Peridot's words echoed in her head. 'I believed in you'. 'Believed'.

Peridot could feel a few traitorous tears form under her visor. No, she was not about to cry over her. As she went to pull it off, her fingers fumbled, and the screen slipped off her face. It shattered on the ground, sending shards of glass across the grass.

Lapis gasped under her breath as she saw Peridot's eyes for the first time. Her eyes were a sharp, intense green, with tearstains invading them, and she looked away as Peridot sent a hard glare towards her. Lapis didn't think she could continue this conversation for long with Peridot's eyes uncovered.

As she hadn't heard another response from Lapis, Peridot continued with a subdued tone. "Well, if that's all. I'm going back to the temple now...."

"Peridot. Wait." Lapis had reached out to grab Peridot's shoulder.

The little gem stiffened, before spinning around and swatting Lapis's hand away.

"Don't touch me!" Peridot shrilled, stumbling away from her.

Lapis flinched, pulled her hands back and wrapped them around herself. She hung her head, feeling a painful tightness in her throat. She felt like she had been shattered a thousand times over. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to fly away to some far off place and never return. As she looked up at Peridot's face, she knew she had been right. Peridot absolutely hated her.

"I'm sor-"

Lapis ducked as a strange object went flying at her head, hitting the barn behind her with a metallic thud. A tense silence enveloped the atmosphere, as Peridot stood there with her hands outstretched and her chest heaving, her face unrecognisable. Lapis twisted around to face Peridot, and her mouth clicked open in shock.

Peridot memorised the blue gem's form once more in her mind, before marching away down the hill. When she was out of sight, her tears flowed freely.

Lapis was still holding herself, trying to shrink herself back into the ground. She felt eyes burning her back, and as she turned around, she realised that she had an audience.

Lars was standing in the background awkwardly looking at a leaf in fascination, while Steven had a poorly hidden grimace on his face as he inched closer to her.

"She hates me, Steven." Lapis uttered.

Steven smiled an assuaging smile. "No, she doesn't. She just needs time, that's all. You didn't expect her to react normally, did you?

"No.....but I didn't expect..this." She slowly motioned towards the direction Peridot had left.

A few tears started escaping down her azure cheeks, and she tried to wipe them away with a shaking hand, unsuccessfully. A sob escaped her lips, and then she lowered herself down on the wet grass, still holding onto herself.

"Um...I'm just going to....yeah..." Lars gestured awkwardly to the slope of the hill, already walking towards it, and Steven nodded at him gratefully.

Lapis tucked her face under her knees, trying to make herself as small as possible. Steven sat down next to her."I keep messing up, Steven. I don't know what to do anymore." 

"It's okay." Steven tried to console Lapis but to no avail.

"No, it's not!" Lapis said frustratingly, looking at Steven with pain in her eyes.

"I should never have left. Now she won't even look at me, and it's all my fault! She was as good as any roommate can be, and I drove her away, just like I drive everybody else away. Don't you see that? Jasper was right. I am a monster. " She looked down at her feet resignedly.

"No! Don't say that! You're not a monster!" Steven leapt up to his feet and grabbed Lapis' shoulders, hoping to shake some sense into her.

Lapis whipped her face around to look at Steven, her eyes wet and shiny. "Yes, I am! I made her feel like she had to hide her true feelings. Tell me that that isn't something a monster would do. "

"Everybody makes mistakes Lapis! So yeah, you may have messed up with the barn thing, and things weren't always perfect as they seemed to be on the outside, but that doesn't mean you're a monster. Don't ever call yourself that."

Lapis sighed tiredly and looked away from him to view the stars, and Steven suddenly realised that it was nighttime.

"It's not a mistake that can be fixed," Lapis mumbled under her breath, still gazing at the serene sky.

"I can help you make it up to her, you know? If you want me to." Steven offered, hoping to lighten up her mood.

Lapis was still for a few seconds, and Steven was worried that she was going to refuse, but then he heard her mutter something, which he wouldn't have heard if he wasn't listening raptly.

"How?"

\---

Peridot was currently shaking with rage in the bathtub, tears running down her face, with the tape recorder held in a tight vice. Pumpkin was lapping up her tears next to her, so she twisted to face the grungy wall of the bathroom.

"Log Date 7 51 2,

"Lazuli came back. I can't believe her gall! Did she honestly think that she'd come back and expect me to act like everything is fine?"

Peridot paused to let out an indignant noise.

"How dare she? How dare she leave and then come back, just after I was starting to get over her? How dare she take our home, without any consideration for Pumpkin or me? She took my camp pining hearts DVDs! She could have at least left season 2! If Lazuli expects me just to bend over backwards again, she has another thing coming."

Peridot reached up to wipe away her tears and then remembered.

"She made me drop my visor!"


	9. Chapter 9

Steven had decided to keep Lapis company for the whole night, and as they watched a movie about aliens and cowboys, Lapis fell asleep.

He turned off the tv, encasing the barn in complete darkness, except for a small light being emitted from Lapis's gem.

When he squinted his eyes, Steven could see that it was a blue hologram. Lapis seemed to be dreaming about something. He wanted to look away and respect her privacy, but he couldn't help but curiously watch the scene unfold.

In the dream, Lapis was sitting in the exact position she was currently in, with Peridot's head fitted snuggly underneath her chin, and they had serene expressions on their eyes as they watched the tv.

Out of nowhere, Peridot pushed herself out of Lapis's embrace and turned around to sneer at Lapis with a cruel expression.

"Don't touch me!" She repeated in the same shrill tone, just like earlier that day.

"Peridot, please." Lapis put her hands up and tried to reach out to the other gem, her eyes brimming with tears.

"No, you don't deserve to even look at me after what you did!" Peridot spat at her, laughing cruelly at Lapis's forlorn expression.

She swatted Lapis's hands away and smirked spitefully. "I hate you, and I will never forgive you. Just do everyone a favour and leave."

Lapis began sobbing. "No no no no no no no..."

Real Lapis was beginning to thrash around on the couch, and her hands were flying everywhere, so Steven decided to put a stop to this.

He put his hands on Lapis's shoulders and gently shook her awake.

"Peridot?" Lapis looked to be still half asleep, her eyes fluttering in the dark, trying to decipher the shape in front of her.

"It's Steven."

Lapis sighed disappointedly, sitting up to face Steven. "I guess you saw all that."

"Yeah, sorry..." Steven rubbed his shoulder, feeling shame flush his cheeks.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Lapis said treading her fingers through her hair.

"Lapis.....Do you really believe that Peridot hates you?"

Lapis paused, her hand still stuck in midair, and then she slowly lowered it to her lap.

"Yes. And I don't blame her. I'd hate me too if I were in her situation...." She said in a sombre tone.

"Lapis, as I've said before, Peridot doesn't hate you."

"Steven, you saw how she reacted, and she threw a metal pan at my head."

Steven winced. "To be fair, she wasn't expecting to see you there, and so her emotions got the best of her. I'm sure she wasn't thinking clearly. That happens when you're angry." His eyes flickered as a memory sprung up inside his head. "Like, remember when you punched Jasper with a giant water fist?"

Lapis snorted. "Yeah."

"Well, you were doing that to protect me. Peridot did that because she was protecting her feelings. Amethyst and Pearl throw things at each other all the time, but in the end, they're still family no matter what."

Lapis chuckled under her breath. "Uh, I'm not sure about that last part."

Steven began chuckling as well and touched the base of his neck. "Yeah, Pearl and Amethyst have a weird dynamic. Most of the time they're fighting, but they still manage to remain friends, somehow."

A comfortable silence enveloped them, with the only sounds being of crickets chirping outside.

The silence was broken when Steven pointed at a small white light just beneath the barn. "Look! Fireflies!"

Lapis squinted and saw that there were indeed small creatures flying about in the dark.

'Peridot loves catching those.' Lapis thought sadly. Sometimes she'd enter the barn with a whole jar full of them, beaming with pride. 

'Look at how many I caught this time, Lapis!'

"Lapis?" Steven was waving a hand in front of her face.

She grabbed his floundering hand and smiled assuredly at him. "I'm here."

Despite Steven's previous attempts at trying to assure Lapis that Peridot did care for her, Lapis still had a faraway look in her eyes.

"Do you know how I know that Peridot doesn't hate you?"

Lapis perused Steven's face curiously.

"How?"

"She locked herself in my bathroom for three days straight, right after you'd left. She listened to nothing but sad country music, and sometimes I could hear her crying through the door, even though she tried to hide it. Amethyst and I had to pull her out of there physically." Steven paused as he recounted the events that had happened a few months earlier. He remembered how out of character Peridot had acted, usually only leaving the bathroom for seconds at a time before throwing herself in the bathroom again.

"We went to the prime kindergarten, and nothing could cheer her up, and she kept saying stuff about how 'her perfect sector of the countryside was somewhere in space' and how she had no hope, and how she wanted to toss herself in the garbage. She said that she had only agreed to come to the kindergarten with us because it helped provide a distraction from losing you." Steven finished his story and looked at Lapis, who was gazing at a smudge on the floor, her hands folded on her lap.

"That doesn't sound much like Peridot." She said in a small voice.

"She was really bad after you left, Lapis. Really, really, bad." He admitted, with a pensive expression. "But.....does that sound like someone who doesn't care about you? If Peridot hated you, she would have just shrugged and gone on with her life. Instead, she was devastated, and even though she's been doing better lately, she still talks about you sometimes."

"I didn't know that it would affect her that much. I must have hurt her really badly." Lapis intoned, holding her hand up to cover her face.

"Don't think about that, now. Think about how you will make it up to her."

"Yeah, about that...." Lapis's shoulders curled over her chest.

"How about you give her something she likes?" Steven suggested, slapping himself mentally. He had given the same advice to Peridot when she'd tried to make it up to Lapis. Even though none of the third attempts had been successful, it was still worth a try.

Lapis's head perked up. "Like what?"

Steven shrugged, cupping an elbow with one hand while tapping his lips with the other. "I don't know. You're her roommate, you must know her better than I do."

Lapis hummed thoughtfully, examining the barn for clues, and then her eyes landed on a small object downstairs.

"I think I have an idea..."

\---

Pearl and Amethyst had their ear to the door, listening intently for any sounds. Peridot had returned alone that evening, flinging the door behind her and almost making the whole house's foundation crumble. Pearl had just been about to chastise her, but then she noticed the foul mood that was surrounding Peridot like a 'keep away from me', sign. She'd decided to let it go, but now the morning light was seeping in through the windows, and Peridot still hadn't stepped out of the bathroom. Garnet had gone to show the new gems around beach city, but when they returned they had to figure out where they were going to stay.

Amethyst wrinkled her nose. "What do you think she's doing in there?"

"Brooding, probably." Pearl deadpanned, her hands flat on the door as if that'd make it easier to hear what was going on in there.

"I wonder what happened...."

"Well, whatever happened, she needs to get out of there and tell us where Steven is. And that reminds me, he still needs to be grounded for taking off to space."

Amethyst groaned and pulled her ear away from the door to face Pearl. "Awww, come on, Pearl! Garnet said that she had given Steven permission to go, isn't that enough?"

"I don't care if Garnet gave him permission. He could have been killed!" Pearl said indignantly. Did Amethyst have to disagree with everything she said?

"Pearl, you're such a dr-"

A sudden crash within the bathroom made them flinch.

"Can you clods stop shouting out there?!" The voice coming from within the bathroom was muffled.

Amethyst chuckled. "Well, at least we know she's still alive."

That won her an unimpressed look from Pearl. "Peridot, open the door right now!"

An uninterrupted silence followed before they could hear the faint pattering of footsteps. Two short clicks later, and the door opened a tad, allowing Peridot's eye to peek through the slit.

"What?" Peridot barked.

Pearl gawked at Peridot for a second, before clearing her throat. "I just wanted to ask you where St-"

Peridot huffed impatiently. "He's at the barn. Now, will you leave me alone?"

"Well, I- Wait what?" Pearl stammered, but Peridot had already shut the door in her face.

"The barn?" Amethyst looked just as confused as she was.

"Stay here," Pearl said, as she marched towards the door.

"Wait a m-" Amethyst had just been about to call her back, but then realised that the door was already wide open.

\---

"Steven Quartz Universe!"

Steven had been relaxing in the 'smaller than average lake', as Peridot liked to call it when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

He craned his neck and saw Pearl, who had an unreadable expression on her face.

"Uh...hey?" He timidly waved at her, as he inwardly wilted at her flushed face.

She put her hands on her hips, making him feel smaller already. "Get out of there, this instant!" She ordered.

Steven gingerly put his sunglasses away and climbed out of the lake, creating a pool on the dry dirt as the water dripped off him.

Pearl pressed her lips together and crossed her arms, eyeing Steven closely. "Would you care to explain why you didn't think to notify me on where you were for a whole night? I was worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, Pearl. Things just happened so quickly, and by the time they did, I forgot to come and tell you where I was. I just assumed that Peridot would." Steven was biting his lip nervously.

Pearl threw her head back and spluttered. "Peridot? She didn't utter a word! All she did was slam a door in my face. She only told me this morning, and that's only because I forced it out of her."

"Did you say Peridot?"

Pearl only then realised that Lapis who had been sitting near the lake, dangling her feet in the water, had risen and moved closer to Steven. 

She pinched the skin on her wrist to check if she was seeing correctly and then turned to address Lapis.

"Oh....you came back. With the barn." Pearl said flatly, her eyes landing on the red construction.

Lapis shrugged and began to fiddle with her dress. "Yeah."

Pearl frowned at her, making Lapis squirm uncomfortably. So this was the reason for Peridot's hostility.

An awkward silence invaded their space, but thankfully Steven butted in.

"So, um.... am I going to get grounded for this?" His lips curved into an uncertain smile.

Pearl's mouth twisted and a muscle twitched in her jaw. "Oh definitely, and don't think I've forgotten about you going off to space for several hours, either."

Steven's shoulders sagged, and he frowned at Pearl, who was facing forward. "But Garnet said-"

Pearl massaged her temples, debating on whether to continue to argue with him on this matter. "Garnet might have known about your escapades. But I didn't. And I don't appreciate either of you not telling me about them."

"She only didn't tell you because she knew you'd act like this! I told you that I wanted to go to the moon, but you didn't listen!" Steven exploded, immediately regretting his words.

"This is no time for arguing, Steven. I've made my decision, and that's it!" Pearl retaliated, her eyes fiery and her jaw clenched. She couldn't believe that Steven had dared to argue with her in the first place.

Steven's lower lip trembled, and his forehead furrowed as he realised that Pearl wasn't going to let him get away with it.

"Fine. Can I at least say goodbye to Lapis, first?" He asked, his voice quivering with barely restrained anger.

Pearl nodded stiffly, turning away towards the slope of the hill.

Steven shuffled towards Lapis, who was toying with a lock of hair and pretending not to have been there the whole time. "I have to go now, Lapis."

"That's okay, Steven," Lapis muttered, looking over his shoulder.

"Don't forget to meet me near my dad's van, later."

"I won't." She assured, giving him a half smile.

They both exchanged hugs, and Steven went on his way.

Lapis sighed. She was alone. Again.


	10. Chapter 10

Peridot groaned as the sound of knocking reverberated around the room.

"P-Dot, open the door!"

Peridot was currently in her bathroom, trying to muffle out the sound by burying her head in a blue pillow. She was trying to get the blue gem out of her mind, but her hurt expression was still burned into her memory. She told herself not to feel guilty because Lapis deserved it, but she couldn't convince herself to believe that, no matter how hard she tried. She didn't care about her. She didn't want to forgive her. She didn't miss her. Rinse and repeat.

"Okay, if you don't open the door, I'm going to bust it down with my PUMA POWERS!"

Peridot rolled her eyes as she heard the sound of shape-shifting behind the bathroom.

"Okay. Three, two, one-" Peridot's eyes flew open at the sound of breaking wood, and as she jerked herself around, her eyes darted to Amethyst who was splattered on the floor.

"Can't I get any privacy around here?! Now, look what you've done." She gesticulated towards the mess of splinters and broken toiletry. 

Amethyst grinned cheekily at her.

"You sound like Pearl. It's just a door." Peridot huffed and shrank back into the bathtub, rolling herself back and forth.

"How are you?" Amethyst asked hesitantly. 

Peridot's eyebrows snapped together. "Peachy."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." She sniffled.

Peridot shrieked as she felt hands pulling her out of the bathtub with brute force.

"What are you doing? Let go of me, you clod!" She swatted at Amethyst's hands, her eyes blazing.

Amethyst shook her head and pulled her out of the bathroom successfully. 

"No, we're getting out of here."

Peridot groaned.

\---

She shielded her face with her hand because the sun was glittering in her eyes, even though it wasn't even 12.00 clock yet. In her other hand, she was holding a broken tape recorder laced with a blue ribbon, the one Peridot had given- or tried to give her anyway. Steven wasn't here yet, so she had decided to sit by the sand and watch the white foam of the ocean as it tickled her toes. She still didn't love Earth, but she didn't hate it either.

Here on Earth, she was stronger than she'd ever been on Homeworld, but she couldn't forget about the atrocities that had taken place on this planet, no matter how beautiful and colourful it seemed to be in comparison. Still, she had to admit, that she held a certain fondness for it, as she peeked at the beach house encased by an enormous stone statue.

"Lapis! Sorry, I'm late."

She turned her head and saw Steven standing next to her, panting and sweating. "It's fine. I just got here." She placated him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad. Dad's van is just over here."

As they walked in companionable silence, Steven started talking about something related to action figures and Connie, but Lapis mostly tuned him out. Soon they had reached Greg's van, where Greg was strumming on his guitar lazily. 

"Steven, what brings you here so early?" Greg greeted, putting down his guitar to study them carefully.

"Lapis wants you to help her fix something."

Greg raised his eyebrow. "And that is?"

Lapis simply shoved the tape recorder in his face, making him jerk back in order not to get his nose broken. "Woah, be careful with that!" He exclaimed, still shielding his face. Lapis let out a little snort. "Oh, sorry." She handed him the recorder, Greg still studying her warily.

He finally brought the strange object close to his face and squinted. "Is this... a voice recorder? I didn't even know these things still existed."

"Yeah, can you fix it?" Steven piped up.

Greg scratched the back of his head and frowned at Steven.

"Steven, I don't know why you came to me with this. I mean, it looks pretty beaten up and doesn't Pearl usually deal with this stuff?" Steven's mouth snapped shut at the mention of Pearl, as he relayed the events that had transpired earlier that morning.

"She's busy." He muttered, looking away to stare at the seagulls gathering around the pier. Greg narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his arms. 

"I guess I know a guy who can fix things like these, and the tape itself isn't broken. I'm sure he can do something."

"Really? Thank you so much, dad!" His whole face lit up, and Greg let out a harsh breath as Steven jumped into his arms. 

"Woah, getting strong there, little buddy." He rasped as Steven stepped back and shrugged happily.

\---

"Alright, he said that he can get it done by tomorrow," Greg said as he got out the van. He had just phoned his contact who liked collecting old technology, and he had actually squealed when Greg gave him the tape recorder. That guy was weird.

"Great. Thank you, Steven's dad." Lapis said, giving him a lopsided grin.

Greg chuckled. "It's nothing. And it's Greg, by the way."

"Right...Greg." Lapis gave him a thumbs up, which he reciprocated.

"Well, I better get back to the house," Steven said, jerking his thumb behind him.

"Yeah me too. I mean- not to the house, to the barn." Lapis quickly corrected herself by gesturing to the hill on the outskirts of beach city. She knew she couldn't go to the house because Peridot was staying there.

"Ok, bye Lapis! Bye, dad!" He waved at them enthusiastically, turning to walk ahead.

"Bye, Steven," Lapis replied, before summoning her wings and taking off. She heard Greg call out to Steven, just before she left.

"Wait, Steven, can I talk to you for a minute?" 

\---

Peridot was sitting on a couch in a strange house, being squished by two bodies which were speaking at a rapid pace. On one side there was Amethyst who was gesticulating and acting out her wild stories with her hands, which almost hit Peridot's face at one point. On the other side was her human friend named Vidalia, who had funny looking hair and was listening attentively.

Peridot leapt up from the couch and walked to a grey door on the side of the room. This went unnoticed by both parties, so she pulled on the knob and it opened silently, allowing her to sneak in. The room was pitch dark, and so she felt around for a light switch, and the room flooded with yellowish light. She almost gasped with shock when she realised that there were paintings of Amethyst flooding the room like a purple tsunami. She backed away slowly but tripped on a wire that was hanging loosely on the floor, and this resulted in her floundering her hands wildly before falling to the floor with a bang. She held her head in pain, but then she could feel a presence behind her and turned around.

"I see you've found my garage." The human had a cool smirk on her face as she said this. Peridot felt relief flood through her because this meant she wasn't angry.

"What are these creations? Are they some type of meep morps?" Peridot queried, spreading her arms to motion to the paintings surrounding the room.

"Moop morps? No, they're called paintings."

"Paintings." Peridot enunciated the word several times with her mouth. She had heard of these so-called 'paintings', before but had never seen them with her own eyes.

"Do you like them?"

Peridot rubbed her hands together and frowned. 

"How do you make these......paintings?" She asked, with a sceptical expression.

"I'll show you if you want."

Peridot shook her head and tried to elucidate with her hands. "What supplies will it require?"

"It's very simple. You just need paint and a canvas or paper." Vidalia explained, shoving a hand in her pocket.

Peridot's eyes lit up as she remembered that she did have paint, but then she realised that the paint was in the barn, and her eyes clouded over with sadness.

"I don't have any of those." She said somberly.

Vidalia studied the green gem's change in expression and put a painted finger on her lips, raising her eyes to look at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"I can give you some if you want. But it has to be later this week. I'm still waiting for my supplier to return from her vacation."

Peridot's face lit up, and she grinned toothily at her.

"Wow, Thanks!" Peridot exclaimed, reaching out for her hand to shake it.

"It's really no problem," Vidalia replied, as she shook the gem's hand.

"What are you nerds talking about?" Amethyst asked, poking her head in and looking at them curiously.

Vidalia shrugged. "We were just talking about my paintings."

"That's really great, but we have to get back. I promised Pearl that I'd clean out my room." Amethyst said, while nonchalantly looking at her wrist.

"Oh!" Vidalia burst into a raspy laughter. "You are whipped!"

Amethyst's cheeks flushed a dark violet. "Oh shut up, Vidalia!" She groaned, pulling Peridot out of the room.

"What is 'whipped?'" Peridot asked, her face contorted in confusion.

A louder laugh echoed around the house.

\---

The next day, Lapis woke up with Steven hovering over her face with a full blown smile on his face.

Lapis jerked away from him with a start and rubbed her eyes wearily.

"Steven, what time is it?" She asked groggily, searching the barn for the clock.

"It's 10 am! Guess what I have?" He cried excitedly, jumping up and down.

He had no right to be this excited this early in the morning.

"What?" She asked disinterestedly, running a hand through her tangled hair.

Steven pulled his arm from behind his back and plopped the fixed voice recorder on her lap.

She picked it up and held it to her face, studying it for any hairline fractures, but it didn't have any.

"This is perfect." She mumbled, touching the glass pane with fascination in her eyes.

It still had that blue ribbon on it, and Lapis decided to instead wrap it with a green ribbon, but she still kept the blue ribbon stored away.

\---

"Ok, are you ready?" Steven had his hand on the railing and was looking at her with worried eyes.

They were currently at the foot of the stairs of the beach house, and Lapis was holding the present in her trembling hands.

"Yeah, I think I am." She ascertained, wiping her hands on her skirt.

They walked up the steps of the house, Lapis at a slower pace, her hands clenched and her feet had lost the ability to keep moving, somehow.

Steven held open the door for her, and as she stepped into the house, she wasn't prepared for the sight of Peridot lounging on the couch. Her heart gave a stutter, and her mind went completely blank.

She didn't have time to think it over though, because suddenly she was being attacked by something. Something small, and...orange?

Pumpkin was barking circles around her, jumping up and trying to climb onto her with a wild ferocity. She had never seen Pumpkin behave like this before, and at first, she stood shock still at the sudden onslaught, but then her shoulders slumped, and she picked it up tenderly. It immediately began slobbering her face with pumpkin kisses, and she would've been grossed out on any other occasion other than this. She accepted them happily and petted it with her free hand, which was no longer jittery.

"You missed me?" She cooed, giving it a small kiss on its head.

Pumpkin responded by barking happily and nuzzling her cheek.

Peridot watched all this from the couch, and the corners of her mouth quirked up at the heartwarming sight, despite still being angry at the blue gem. She didn't say anything because she was afraid of spoiling the moment.

After a few moments of happy reunion, Lapis put the small pumpkin head down, and it went scurrying at Peridot's feet, not aware of the strange tension between the two gems.

Lapis cleared her throat and looked Peridot in the eye. "Peridot."

"Lazuli." Peridot nodded tensely.

"I know that this isn't enough for you to forgive me, but I want you to have this." She inched forward and handed the device to Peridot, who jolted upright and leaned over to accept the gift.

As their fingers met, Lapis quickly pulled her hand away and clutched at her skirt. She shifted her gaze away from Peridot's, but she could still feel her eyes boring like hot coals through her.

The proceeding silence was deafening, except for the harsh tearing of paper.

Lapis finally turned her head and saw a flash of recognition in Peridot's eyes as she studied the object in her hand, but her expression was unrecognisable. The silence carried on for a moment longer, and Lapis was about to say something until she heard Peridot utter a question.

"Is this the voice recorder I gave you?" Peridot was still looking at the voice recorder with an elusive expression.

"Yes," Lapis replied merely, trying to decipher Peridot's mood.

Another period of silence followed that. Lapis couldn't take much more of this. 

Peridot finally looked up at Lapis, and her eyes had darkened.

"So you basically rewrapped a gift I gave you?" Peridot jeered, a muscle in her jaw twitching.

Lapis's jaw slackened, but she quickly recuperated. "But, it's fixed now, see? Steven helped."

Peridot threw a glance at Steven who was standing near the door watching the scene unfold before her eyes rested on Lapis again.

"So, it's not even from you. It's from Steven." 

"Well- I-" Lapis stammered, and her shoulders slumped. She was truly at a loss for words. What Peridot was saying was true, in a sense, but that didn't make her feel any better.

"It doesn't even matter. I don't want it." Peridot deadpanned, putting the voice recorder back in its paper box.

Lapis gawked at Peridot's reaction, her mind failing to comprehend what she'd heard.

"Wha- But- You loved that thing!" Lapis cried incredulously, pointing at the voice recorder encased in the box. "What do you mean, you don't want it?" 

"I found a new one, one that wasn't broken by you," Peridot said flatly, as she picked at some lint that was stuck to her sides.

Lapis crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows suspiciously. "Where did you get it, then?"

Peridot leaned back with a close-lipped smile. "Amethyst gave it to me."

Lapis could feel her teeth clench, and her fingernails bite into her palms.

"Well, if you don't want it, I guess I'll just take it back, then," Lapis said in a strained voice, her eyes slowly drinking in Peridot's relaxed form.

Peridot opened her mouth, and promptly shut it, before slowly opening it again.

"Fine, be my guest." She gently pushed the voice recorder towards Lapis, who still hadn't budged.

"Fine." Lapis snagged the voice recorder and marched off, slamming the door behind her and making the whole house shiver.

"Lapis wai-" Steven called out, but it was too late, as Lapis had already flown off.

"Peridot, did you have to be so hard on her?" Steven turned to the green gem, whose shoulders had slumped and who was currently holding her head in her hands.

Peridot's head jerked back up, and she gaped at Steven. Was he serious?

"Me? Hard on her? She was the one that gave me the same gift that I gave her! She's the one who broke it in the first place, and she couldn't even fix it herself, she relied on you!" Peridot cried, savagely pointing her finger towards Steven.

"At least I didn't break it in front of her face, which may I remind you, Steven, was a thing she did, not me." As Peridot rambled on, Steven could see that her face had darkened and her breathing was laboured.

"She did her best." Steven tried weakly.

"Her best isn't good enough, then." She muttered, pressing a hand to her cheek.

Steven crossed his arms and eyed Peridot uncertainly. "Also, why did you lie about Amethyst giving you that tape recorder?"

Peridot gasped, and her hand shot up to cover her heart dramatically.

"I didn't lie! How dare you accuse me of lying!?" She cried, glaring at Steven.

At Steven's raised eyebrow, Peridot shrunk into herself and blushed.

"Okay, maybe she didn't actually give it to me, per say. But I did find it in her room. The details are not that important."

Steven sighed and sat down next to her, as she was absentmindedly playing with the green ribbon that had been wrapped around the voice recorder.

"You have to forgive her sometime, Peridot." Steven pointed out, looking at the green gem disapprovingly.

"Oh do I?" Peridot objected, rolling her eyes.

Steven nodded. "Yeah. It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but I know you will, someday."

"If you say so, Steven. That day is definitely not today. "

\---

Lapis was curled in a fetal position on the truck, her hand still clutched around the voice recorder, the tears on her face spilling over onto the mattress.

Was this how Peridot had felt when she had broken the tape recorder in her face? No wonder she had gotten that reaction. Lapis was admittedly angry at Peridot for acting so......indifferent. She was mostly mad at herself because the things Peridot had said had been true, although they did send stabs of pain shooting through her. Lapis needed to try something else.


	11. Chapter 11

Lapis was not going to give up. That's the first thought that she could register in her mind when she opened her eyes to the morning light the next day. She was going to find a way to make Peridot forgive her. She summoned her wings and took off to the sky, which always helped her think in times of trouble. As she perused Beach City and watched the humans go about their lives, she asked herself something very vital.

"What does Peridot want?"

Well, Peridot wanted a lot of things, but nothing that important that could help her mend the grandiose mistake that Lapis had made. She replayed the encounter she'd had with Peridot the other day. 'Amethyst gave it to me.' She hadn't even known that they were even that close, but apparently, she'd been wrong, like she was about a lot of things, she was starting to realise. If Amethyst were that close of a friend to give Peridot gifts, then she'd have to know what to give her, right? Lapis's nostrils flared as she thought of going to Amethyst for help, but at this point, she had no other choice.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lapis's sharp eyes caught the purple gem strolling on the beach, and so she landed right in front of her, sending loose grains of sand everywhere which lingered on Amethyst's shirt.

Lapis inwardly smiled in satisfaction at the destruction she'd caused.

"Oh hey, Lapis. I heard you were back." Amethyst greeted with indifference. She didn't remember having any worthwhile conversation with the blue gem before she'd left, and was still a bit angry at her for leaving Peridot and making her sulk around. That wasn't cool, man.

"Um, yeah. I was just wondering...." She paused, putting her hand over her lips thoughtfully. 

"Do you know what Peridot would want the most as a gift?" Mentally, Lapis facepalmed herself, already regretting the question.

Amethyst looked at her strangely. "Why are you asking me? You know her better than I do."

"Yeah," she agreed, "but since you gave her that tape recorder, I-"

Amethyst held up a hand to stop her. 

"Wait. Tape recorder? I didn't give her that." She interjected, with her forehead puckered.

Lapis scrunched up her face in confusion, and a line appeared between her brows. 

"Wh- You didn't give her a tape recorder?" She stammered.

"No." Amethyst paused to sort out her thoughts before continuing fluidly. "Well, in a sense, yes, but she just found it in my room. I thought it was just junk so I let her have it, but I didn't actually 'give' it to her."

Lapis's mouth snapped shut, and her face went blank. She felt a surge of relief all throughout her body, followed by a spurt of anger. Peridot had lied to her for no reason, and with a smug smile to go along with it. Her hidden hostility towards Amethyst seemed pointless now, but then again, she didn't know why she'd been hostile against her in the first place.

"Oh."

Amethyst continued, not noticing Lapis's change of expression. 

"You know, she was so angry that day that she found it. I don't think I remember her being that angry since I threw her limb enhancers in the ocean, and-"

The rest of Amethyst's ramblings faded into a blur, as the words 'limb enhancers' repeated themselves in her mind, over and over.

"You threw her limb enhancers in the ocean?" Lapis asked slowly, her eyes crinkling.

Amethyst chuckled heartily as remembered the green gem's reaction, wiping a tear away from her left eye.

"Yeah, near the galaxy warp, it was hilarious, and then-"

Amethyst suddenly felt a wave of sand whip her face, and when she searched for the blue gem in the midst of it, she was nowhere to be found.

"Uh, well bye, I guess." She shrugged and continued on her way to the Big Donut.

\---

Pearl was tidying about the house, and checking for dust mites in a particularly tight corner of the house when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Peridot had been sulking around the house all day, with Pumpkin happily following her trail. As Pearl dusted the cabinets, she watched as Peridot fell face first on the couch and groaned.

Pearl laid down her duster carefully, and shifted towards the green gem cautiously, as to not alert her.

"Peridot, are you...alright?" Pearl started, as she nimbly crossed her legs on the couch.

Peridot's face pivoted upward, and she narrowed her eyes at Pearl. She didn't feel like hearing about Pearl's fake sympathy right now.

"Oh please, don't act like you care, Pearl." Peridot scoffed, stretching out her legs in front of her and purposely nudging Pearl with her feet.

Pearl rolled her eyes, mentally counting to ten in her head.

"Peridot, I know we haven't always been on the best of terms, but I'd thought we had gotten over our petty disagreements." 

"Did Steven tell you to come talk to me?" Peridot asked derisively, her eyes still glowering at Pearl.

Pearl uncrossed her legs and frowned at an errant speck of dust. 

"No." She said in a small voice.

Peridot's expression dropped and evolved into a more serious one.

"Uh..are you okay?" She asked hesitantly, scrutinising her face for any clues related to the sudden change in atmosphere.

Pearl's shoulders tensed and she quickly crossed her arms, as a chilly breeze was swept in through the windows.

"What? No. Everything's fine. Completely fine. What gave you the idea that everything was not fine?" Pearl forced a creepy smile at Peridot which made her shudder.

There was a pregnant pause, and then a small "I'm fine." from Pearl, who was tapping her foot repeatedly against the floor.

"According to my calculations, it's more likely that you are not fine," Peridot stated, eyeing Pearl warily.

"Well, your calculations are wrong," Pearl replied stubbornly.

Peridot rubbed her temples and swore under her breath. She didn't even know why she was trying to comfort Pearl. Just because they were both Crystal Gems didn't mean that they had to be all buddy buddy.

"I doubt that very much. My calculations are always a 100 percent accurate and completely trustworthy."

"Maybe they aren't as accurate as you think they are." Pearl folded her hands on her lap and stuck her nose up in the air, making Peridot fume.

"Gah!" Peridot huffed, burying her hands in her hair out of pure frustration, before twisting around to glare at Pearl. 

"Just tell me what's wrong!" Peridot cried, throwing her hands up.

Pearl gave a long exhale, before lowering her head to meet Peridot's glare, mentally debating why she was about to talk about her troubles with Peridot, out of all the people in the world.

"Steven and I may have had a.......disagreement."

"Oh?" Peridot's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. 

"Yes, when I went to look for him at the barn that morning, he got angry at me for grounding him."

"Wai- Grounding him?!" Peridot yelped, flying off the couch, making Pearl wince as she crashed against the coffee table.

"Did you crush Steven into the ground?!" Peridot touched her throat, stumbling away from her slowly.

Pearl's eyes started blinking rapidly, as her mind clouded over with confusion, and then she facepalmed. She was already regretting the decision she'd made to attempt a rational conversation with Peridot.

"Grounding means that I punished him."''

Peridot's face flushed profusely, before gingerly returning to her spot on the couch. She hated that she still didn't understand these complicated Earth phrases, even though she'd been here for quite a while. She could build a giant robot out of junk, yet somehow she couldn't understand these strange sentences that held a hidden meaning. 

Usually, she wouldn't feel embarrassed because she had Lapis by her side, who shared her confusion by staring blankly ahead of her, but this time it was just Peridot. She felt not only stupid but alone.

"Ah. I see...."

An awkward silence permeated the air, as Peridot replayed her reaction to the word over and over like a film. Then she remembered that Pearl was still waiting expectantly next to her.

"And why did you do that?" She asked uncertainly, still gazing with focus at the tilted coffee table, which Pearl quickly leaned over to fix.

Pearl's lips pressed together in a slight grimace, relaying the encounter she'd had that day.

"I had been searching for him all night, yet when I arrived at the barn, he was lounging in the pool without a care in the world."

Peridot's heartbeat quickened at the mention of her home.

"Did...Lapis mention me?" She bit her lip, reaching down to pluck at the green ribbon she'd wrapped around her wrist. She'd only kept it because she liked the colour.

"Uh, well," Pearl hesitated, watching this action from the corner of her eye."We barely talked, but she did mention you." She admitted, wringing her hands out.

Peridot's throat thickened, and she had to clear it, before attempting a nonchalant tone. "Well... what did she say?"

Pearl frowned, trying to think back to her conversation with Lapis. It hadn't been a very long one, and she barely remembered what she'd said, but she did remember Lapis's eyes flickering to her only when she'd mentioned Peridot. That's what had made her talk to Pearl in the first place.

"She just mentioned your name." Pearl shrugged, reaching up to fix her hair.

Peridot's shoulders dropped. "Right...." 

She didn't know what she had been expecting, and she tried to swallow down her disappointment, distracting herself by pretending to be interested in Pearl's problems.

"Are you still not talking to Steven?"

Pearl's hand stilled in midair before she slowly lowered it down to her lap. "Not until he apologises to me, first for going off to space-"

"Wait, you didn't know about that?" Peridot blurted out, not even bothering to hide the shock on her face.

"You knew?! Did everyone else know but me?" Pearl gawked, finally meeting Peridot's shocked gaze.

"I thought that he'd told you." 

"He didn't."

An uncomfortable silence enveloped them, making Peridot rub the back of her neck. 

"Well...this is awkward."

Pearl dropped her head with her eyes closed and sighed a long, low sigh.

"Garnet keeps telling me to forgive him." She admitted, staring down at her hands.

"I guess we're both stuck in a similar situation."

Pearl's eyes darted to Peridot's, and she curiously tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

"Steven keeps telling me to forgive Lapis for what she did, but I just can't do it. Even if I wanted to, I can't forget about what she did to me. Yesterday she tried to apologise and gave me a present. I rejected her." Peridot paused to pull her legs up on the couch and hugged her knees, before continuing in a subdued tone.

"I almost gave in and forgave her right on the spot, but I just....wanted to hurt her." She winced and surveyed Pearl's face for her reaction.

"It sounds horrible when I say it like that, doesn't it?"

Peridot was expecting Pearl to shout at her in disgust for admitting that she'd wanted Lapis to feel bad on purpose, but she was surprised when she found Pearl staring ahead of her, her face scrunched up in deep thought.

"No, I know exactly what you mean." 

"You do?" Peridot asked, looking at Pearl's faraway expression attentively.

"Once, a long time ago, Amethyst and I had a big fight. It was a completely different situation, but I didn't talk to Amethyst for a whole month. I realised that I wasn't even angry anymore, I just wanted her to be as miserable as I had been feeling when I found out what she'd done." Pearl's eyes were narrowed, eyebrows pulled down in concentration.

"Then I noticed that it was hurting me more than it was hurting her because I so focused on avoiding her and making her feel guilty, that...well, it happened a long time ago."

Peridot frowned, her forehead wrinkling as she looked down at her ribbon. Pearl kept silent, almost hearing the thoughts reeling inside the mind beside her. Peridot didn't feel like talking about herself anymore, and so she switched the subject.

"Why do you think Steven didn't tell you about the whole going off to space thing?"

"Well, he did tell me that he wanted to go to the moon, a few days before he'd actually gone," Pearl replied as she pursued her lips in thought, allowing a pregnant pause to slip through the conversation.

"And?" Peridot continued impatiently.

Pearl scoffed, looking at Peridot incredulously. "I said no, obviously. He wouldn't tell me why, and so I didn't want to risk his safety for something as abstract like that." 

"Why did he come to you?"

Pearl fumbled for words before shooting a dirty look at the aloof green gem. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Peridot shrugged and offered a placating smile. "Don't you find it curious that he came to you for help instead of Garnet or Amethyst?"

"No... I never thought of that." Pearl uttered, tapping a finger against her chin absentmindedly.

Peridot released a heavy sigh, before pushing herself off the couch and addressing Pearl one last time. She needed to check on her Twitter account. "Well, he must have taken it for granted that you'd accept his proposal. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even attempted to ask you."

"Hmm... " Pearl still had that glazed far off look in her eyes, so Peridot turned to scamper off to the bathroom.

"Wait, Peridot." That made her halt her steps, and she craned her neck to look at Pearl, who was now fidgeting with her hands again.

"Hm?"

"Thank you." Her lips curved into a subtle smile.

Peridot's eyebrows furrowed. "For what?"

"For listening."

"Oh..well, you're welcome!" Peridot grinned enthusiastically.

She was getting really skilled at this friendship thing, thought Peridot proudly as she skipped off to the doorless bathroom.

Pearl rolled her eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

Lapis had spent hours surveying the area around the galaxy warp, but finally, she'd managed to find all the limb enhancers. The fingers had been the hardest parts to find, and at first, she'd been afraid that some sea creature had swallowed them, but she'd found them unharmed in the seabed, not far from the galaxy warp itself. She placed everything on a broken down table in the barn and began draining the salt water out of the nooks and crannies, hoping that it hadn't done much damage to the insides.

Looking down at the finished product, she thought that she hadn't done a bad job, and so she placed them carefully in an empty white box and closed it gently with a lid. She mulled over the thought of wrapping it and decided to cover it with some white paper she'd found in the hidden shed downstairs. It had green alien faces plastered on it, similar to the ones on Peridot's favourite shorts that she had tried to hide from her, unsuccessfully.

Lapis snorted as an image of Peridot pulling up the shorts and squealing under her breath appeared at the forefront of her mind. She shook that thought away, along with the sudden warmth that had bloomed on her cheeks, leaning further to study the present in front of her. Something still looked missing, so she topped it off with a cyan ribbon, that she'd found lying around. She rolled her shoulders and glanced at the clock which was hammered to the wall at the other end of the barn, and her eyes widened. It was 7 pm, she intended to give this to Peridot as soon as possible, and so she tucked the gift under her arm and took off into the night.

\---

Lapis adjusted her skirt for the third time, but she still couldn't bring herself to knock on the door. What was wrong with her? All she had to do was to form a fist, raise it a bit and to bang it against the glass door several times. That reminded her, how many times should she knock? One knock was too casual, but three knocks were desperate. Wow, now she sounded like Pearl, always overthinking everything. She felt like her insides were quivering, as she rubbed her arms and looked around. Peridot was going to yell at her, she was sure of it. Maybe she should've come tom-

"Lapis, what are you doing here?" 

"Steven! Oh, it's so good to see you!" Lapis greeted him excitedly, reaching out to hug him tightly.

Steven frowned as he felt something jutting into his hip, breaking away from her embrace.

"What do you have there?" He asked, pointing towards the mysterious box held under her arm.

She glanced at the mentioned object as if she hadn't been aware of it before and waved him off.

"Oh, this? It's nothing." Maybe she could still leave and get away with it. She obviously wasn't ready to face Peridot today.

Steven's eyebrows furrowed at the quivering note in her voice, and her constant shifting of the gift from one arm to another.

"Lapis....you're acting really strange. Are you sure you're okay?" Steven asked hesitantly, inching forward to study the box more closely.

"I'm fine." Her voice was clipped, and she slowly backed away, partly hiding the box behind her back.

"You don't s-" 

The door flew open, making Lapis flinch in surprise as she spun towards the intruding sound. 

Her heart dropped to her stomach as her eyes met Peridot's who was staring at her, the shock evident on her face. Peridot's eyes darted to the object still partly hidden by her body before flitting up to shocked blue eyes again. They studied each other's faces for one long moment before Peridot opened her mouth and gestured towards the indoor area.

"Well, are you coming inside or not?"

"Uh, yeah." Lapis nodded dumbly, following Peridot inside the house.

\---

When Peridot opened the door, she hadn't expected Lapis Lazuli to be standing in front of her, the day after she'd rejected her. She'd thought that Lapis would avoid her and she'd never see her face again, so she had gotten tongue tangled at seeing the blue gem pacing around the front porch as if nothing had happened. Imagine her surprise when she noticed that Lapis had another gift for her. She only invited her inside because she was admittedly curious as to what Lapis had gotten her this time, and because Steven had an expectant look on his face. That's the only reason.

As Peridot plopped down on the couch, she looked up to find Lapis eyeing the door and gnawing at her lips. Steven had entered the house and abruptly gone upstairs.

Peridot cleared her throat, and as Lapis's head jerked towards her, she motioned her hands towards the adjacent seat. She dutifully sat down without a second thought, albeit a bit jerkily.

Peridot raised an eyebrow at this, and her eyes narrowed at the hands clenched around her dress, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she faced Lapis head-on, forcing her to meet her intense gaze.

"Why did you come here?"

"I came here to see you," Lapis said quietly, her eyes flitting from one object to another.

"That's not what I-" Peridot began, before pinching the bridge of her nose.

She elucidated her question. "I mean, why are you really here?"

Lapis frowned and tilted her head in a questioning manner. "I just said-"

Peridot scrubbed a hand over her face and groaned. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Lapis was still eyeing her innocently, and Peridot didn't know if she wanted to slap her or k- kick her.

Peridot could feel a headache starting to form, and she ran a hand over her forehead, before standing up to inch forward towards the box that Lapis had brought with her.

"What's in that box?"

"It's a gift." Lapis stated, and after a few moments she added, "For you."

"Really."

"Yes. Really." Lapis held it out in front of her, waiting for Peridot to come closer.

This was one of the strangest conversations Peridot had gotten herself into. As she stepped forward, she pulled on the gift but underestimated its weight and toppled backwards. She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the impact with her old friend, the floor. She waited, but the pain didn't come. Instead, she felt a pair of steady hands wrap around her waist, making her shudder. Her eyes flew open at the same time those hands shot away from her, and Lapis mumbled a small ''Sorry.'' before gingerly stepping away. Peridot tried to peruse Lapis's expression, but her face was hidden underneath her hair, and she was holding onto one arm while studying the floor.

Peridot remembered that she had a gift to open and so she threw herself on the couch and began to unwrap the wrapping paper, her eyes sparkling at the little alien faces littering the paper. She took off the cyan ribbon and placed it next to the wrapping paper, and then she lifted the lid carefully and peered inside.

Lapis had pressed a hand against her face and was currently watching all this from between her fingers. Her mind was torturing her by replaying the previous moment over and over. Her fingers still burned, as did her face, and she wouldn't dare look Peridot in the eye.

Peridot had been staring at the box for about a minute now. Lapis had really gone out of her way this time. She'd counted, and all of them were there, even the fingers. She hadn't thought about the limb enhancers for months, but here they were, reminding her of what she wasn't. Lapis must have searched for hours and hours, maybe even days, perusing the ocean for any sign of them. What would have happened if she hadn't found them? Would she have searched forever and ever? She felt a twinge of guilt as she'd thought of Lapis's initial reaction the other day, and wondered if she'd been too harsh on her.

"Lapis....." Peridot was staring up at Lapis in awe.

The aforementioned gem dropped her hand in surprise at the uttering of her name and inched closer to the green gem. "Peridot?"

Peridot hesitated, trying to find a way to phrase her thoughts without offending Lapis. 

"Lapis...I really appreciate that you went out of your way to find these. I thought they were lost forever." Lapis's eyes brightened, and Peridot winced as she worded the next part. 

"I don't need them anymore." She confessed, shifting slightly on the couch. 

Lapis's expression went slack, and her mouth fell open slightly. "What?"

"I thought I did, but now I have powers. Actual powers. These were given to me by homeworld, only because they wanted me to rely on their technology."

Lapis's hopes of making Peridot forgive her shattered. Peridot was never going to forgive her, no matter what she did, or how much she waited, she was never going to recover from the grave mistake she'd made. The realisation made her eyes water, and she couldn't look at Peridot anymore. She ducked her chin and slinked away from Peridot, turning slightly to look out the window. The sound of soft footsteps reached her ears, and when she spun around, Peridot had risen and moved closer to her.

"Peridot, please, what will make you forgive me?" She begged, feeling her breath hitch as she clutched at her own chest tightly.

Peridot sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Lapis-"

"No, Peridot, I want to know. I don't know what to do to fix this!" She cried in a trembling voice, her eyes desperately clinging to Peridot's. 

"I don't want you to do anything!" Peridot snapped, her verdant eyes protruding through the visors and a heat flushing through her body. 

Lapis whimpered, and Peridot's hand reached out before promptly jerking back to thread through her hair. 

"I can't forgive you, Lapis," Peridot stated, grimacing at Lapis's expression.

Lapis's chin trembled, the colour draining from her face. This was a nightmare. A horrid, livid nightmare and she was living in it. She pressed a fist to her lips in an attempt to keep her tears at bay and tried to avoid the spots flashing in her vision.

"Not yet," Peridot added in a small voice, breaking eye contact.

Lapis froze, and her eyes flitted up to Peridot's face. She cursed herself when she felt a flare of hope bubbling in her chest. 

"I can't forgive you, but-" Peridot repeated, staring at nothing for an overlong moment.

Lapis waited impatiently, squeezing the hands at her sides. "But?"

Peridot met her expectant gaze with a small smile which made Lapis's insides flutter pleasantly.

"I want to move back into the barn if that's okay." Peridot missed her home. Steven's bathroom was okay, but it didn't provide the privacy she needed, especially since Amethyst had broken down the door. It was suitable for temporary housing, but she knew that she'd have to move back to the barn sooner or later, so it might as well have been now.

Lapis tried to push down the eagerness in her eyes by smoothing down her dress. When she looked back up, Peridot was still waiting expectantly for her response. 

"Yes, you're right. It's your home too." Lapis agreed, biting down a smile.


	13. Chapter 13

It had been three days since Peridot moved in. Lapis had thought that they'd fall back to their regular routines, but she had been dead wrong. Peridot seemed to stick to one side of the barn, so naturally, Lapis was forced to pick the other side, and because of this they rarely bumped into each other. When they did, Peridot either scurried off with hardly a mumble, or she picked an argument. She didn't like it one bit.

That morning, Lapis had woken up to find Peridot gone, but that was no surprise as she was probably out watering the plants. Lapis shrugged and picked up a book to start reading. As she flipped through the pages of her book, she felt the hammock sway which made her drop the book onto her lap to hold onto something sturdy. When she looked up, a grumpy Peridot with crossed arms was boring holes into her.

"Um." Lapis reached up to scratch at her neck, trying to figure out what she did this time.

"Where is the Camp Pining Hearts DVD?" Peridot asked, using a carefully controlled tone.

Lapis raised an eyebrow and held the book up to continue reading. "Which one?"

"Season 2." The green gem answered, narrowing her eyes. She didn't appreciate the blue gem's calm demeanour, as this was a serious matter that needed to be resolved quickly. An errant thought sneaked into her head, a mildly dangerous one. 

"Where have you hidden it?" The taller gem couldn't be that vindictive, surely.

Dainty lips pressed together, as Lapis felt a sting of irritation. Peridot was trying to get a rise out of her, she realised, but she wasn't going to fall for the bait. Instead, she maintained a stony expression and shifted the book to her other hand, making Peridot's eyes flit to it in mild curiosity. Lapis furrowed her brows, as she tried to think on where she'd put it the last time she'd used the DVD. Peridot and Lapis usually watched Camp Pining Hearts together, but Lapis hadn't touched any DVDs since she'd left Earth. It could've fallen off the barn when it was taking off, she realised, but that was a tiny possibility.

"I didn't hide it. You must have lost it." Lapis reckoned, squinting at an unfamiliar word which was etched onto a soggy page. Peridot scoffed, uncrossing her arms and shaking her head. She knew that Lapis knew that she always kept all the DVDs stocked on one shelf, in a chronological order.

"I haven't even watched it since I've been here. You are the one who lost it!" She pointed a finger at Lapis accusingly. 

Lapis shrugged half-heartedly, making Peridot curl her toes. 

"You probably didn't search hard enough." 

"I just told you, I searched everywhere, and it's gone," Peridot spoke through gritted teeth as she leered at Lapis's form.

"Why are you getting so worked up over this? It's just a DVD." Lapis said, letting her wrist drop to look at Peridot's flushed face.

The other gem gawked, a hand shooting up to press against her mouth. Lapis knew how much that show meant to her.

"It's not just a DVD. It's the best season of the best show ever made! How can you even say that?" 

Lapis rolled her eyes and covered her face with the book once more. Peridot was being melodramatic, as usual. She was making a big deal out of nothing with this whole DVD thing, as she knew that Peridot was smart enough to figure out that they could always get another one or even stream it online.

"You've only watched one show, and season 3 was better, anyway." She admitted, focusing her attention on the writing littered across the pages.

"Argh! That book is upside down! You know what Lazuli-" Peridot wrenched the book from her hands and threw it at the wooden panelling. It hit the floor with a dull thud. Lapis quickly leapt up from the hammock at the same time Peridot was about to march off and was now towering over her, blue eyes boring into green.

"Why did you lie to me?"

Peridot froze, and her head tilted up to be able to read Lapis's expression correctly, but all she could find was a blank slate. This was an attempt to get away with hiding the DVD, probably.

Her mouth opened, before closing shut again. "What are you talking about?" Peridot cautioned, narrowing her eyes at the blue gem.

"That day at the beach house, you lied to me." 

Peridot stiffened even further, averting her gaze to a grain of sand that was stuck to Lapis's neck. 

"I didn't lie to you." She muttered, adjusting her visor.

"Yes, you did." The taller gem was feeling strangely patient, as this was a game they played very often.

"You can't prove that." Peridot chided petulantly, finally meeting Lapis's scornful eyes.

Lapis smirked, before delivering the blow. "You lied about Amethyst giving you that tape recorder. She told me herself that you found it."

Peridot's face went white, and her knees knocked together. When had Amethyst and Lapis ever interacted? Lapis tried to hide her snort by covering it with her hand at seeing Peridot's mouth gape open like a fish. She felt a rush of satisfaction as Peridot began stammering for what seemed like an endless amount of time.

"I didn't- You- How- This isn't-" Peridot's face was heating up, and her eyes were flashing back and forth. First to the book on the floor, then to the hammock and finally they landed on Lapis, who was trying to contain her collection of snorts behind a trembling hand. Who did Lapis think she was? Yes, she had lied, but it had only been one small fib which didn't matter in the long run, and she didn't know why she was being interrogated like this over it.

"Okay, maybe I did, so what?"

"Nothing." Lapis shrugged, her eyes glittering with amusement. "I'm just asking why you did it."

"Fine! I don't know why I did it." Peridot huffed, squaring her shoulders and averting her eyes to the green ribbon which was wrapped around her wrist. Lapis sighed, and she pressed her palm to her forehead for a long moment.

"You're lying to me again." She deducted, feeling a small twinge of annoyance in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know why Peridot wouldn't just tell her the truth already, and she felt a bit hurt that Peridot was lying so casually to her face like this.

"I'm not lying to you! You make it so difficult!" Peridot threw her hands up in frustration.

"How do I make it difficult?"

"You always get upset when I tell you what I'm really feeling."

Lapis scrubbed a hand over her face and drew a breath before speaking. Why did Peridot care so much about how she reacted? "That doesn't matter, just tell me the truth!" She exclaimed, feeling a bubble of frustration rise in her throat.

"Right, because that went well the last time I did it." Peridot blurted out, but she immediately wanted to reach back out and throw those words in the garbage. A dead silence followed, as Peridot turned away from Lapis's wounded expression and stared at the slow-moving clock which had been hammered to the wall.

"Sorry," Peridot muttered, closing her eyes.

"No. You're right. When you'd told me that you wanted to stay on Earth, I couldn't handle the truth."

Peridot span around, her eyes shooting up to Lapis's in absolute shock, but a mess of bangs hid them.

"But, I shouldn't have expected you to stay, either. I knew that you were involved in the war and yet I expected you to stay on Earth, despite all that!" Peridot stammered, gesturing wildly.

"Yes, but I should have fought through it instead of running away from it!" Lapis cried, finally meeting Peridot's intense gaze.

"You and I both know it's not that simple, Lazuli. I don't know what war even means, but you do. You lived through it."

"Stop trying to blame yourself!" Lapis exploded, as a fierce energy took over her whole body, surging through her veins. She knew that Peridot was only trying to make her feel better, but she was sick of the excuses. She just wanted the truth, even if it killed her.

"Lap-"

"No," Lapis interjected, holding a hand up in order to stop the green gem from trying to apologise again. "What you did and what I did are completely different. All you did was try to keep things normal. I did much worse than that. I didn't even ask you whether you wanted to leave Earth and then I left you here because I am a coward. I should've stayed here with you and tried to talk to you about it. But...I didn't." Lapis's voice broke, her spine bowing.

"You're not a coward," Peridot stated in a small voice.

Lapis's head perked up. "What?"

Peridot shuffled her feet, looking away. "I said, you're not a coward. I'm still angry with you, but you're here now. You came back, despite the possibility of the Diamonds coming here to find Steven. That's not something a coward would do." 

Lapis took in a sharp breath, as she peered at Peridot's expression from under her bangs. She still felt like a coward.

"I'm sorry, Peridot." That's all she could say.

"I know." Peridot sighed.

Lapis trudged towards one end of the barn, and as she bent over to pick up the forgotten book, she felt a trembling hand land on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, too," Peridot mumbled.

"For what?" Lapis was still facing away from Peridot, and her heartbeat quickened as she felt the hand that was wrapped around her shoulder tighten slightly.

"For snapping at you." Then, a few moments later she added, "And for lying."

She felt that hand tightening once more, before brushing down her shoulder and letting go. Lapis swiftly turned around to address Peridot adequately, but the green gem had already scurried off. Her shoulder felt cold.

\---

Lapis knocked on the door and waited. Things had gotten a bit better since that big argument they'd had at the barn, but they were still either avoiding each other or arguing relentlessly. She was hoping to get some advice from Steven, but after three knocks, the door slid open to reveal Garnet. 

"Um, is Steven here?" 

"No," Garnet replied flatly, her hand still resting on the door.

"Oh." Lapis's eyebrows dropped, and her lips pressed tight. She had been hoping that Steven would be here, and now she didn't know what to do. "Do you know when he will get back?"

"No." Garnet was still speaking in that monotone tone which made her scalp prickle and set her teeth on edge.

"Can you at least tell me where he is?" 

Garnet glanced over her shoulder to peek at the clock and then twisted back to address Lapis. "You can come in and wait until he arrives."

"That's fine. I'll just come back later." Lapis waved the offer away and shifted her feet.

"I insist." 

Lapis mulled over the offer inside her head for a moment, wondering if she should accept it. She didn't hate the crystal gems, but she didn't like them either, even though Peridot had apparently joined them while she was away, as evidenced by the massive star on her chest. She didn't necessarily want to be stuck in a room with one of them, but at the same time, she did want to talk to Steven urgently.

"Well, okay." She said reluctantly, following Garnet's slow gait into the house. She shut the door gently behind her and placed herself on the couch. A steady gaze followed her movements, but she attempted not to notice by taking an immediate interest in the house's upholstery and decor.

"Lapis." Her eyes shot up to the fusion, who was standing before her and staring intently.

Lapis hesitated and massaged the back of her neck. "Uh, yeah?"

"Do you want to walk with me for a moment?"

"Why?" Lapis drawled, inclining her head in suspicion. Garnet had never attempted to talk to her before, so this was a surprise, to say the least. She knew that the fusion was uncomfortable by the way her hands folded into themselves, probably because of the whole, "I was trapped in a mirror for thousands of years," thing.

"Just to pass the time until Steven gets here." Garnet shrugged nonchalantly, staring ahead of her. It was hard to talk to the fusion with a sheet of black in the way, she realised.

"Sure, I guess." She had nothing to lose, either way.

\---

They had been parading around the beach for only about a minute, and Lapis was enjoying the warm, salty breeze that was wafting in from the ocean. Earth was truly interesting, she thought, as she felt the sand crawl between her toes. On Homeworld, everything was logical and set in stone. There was no weather, no lakes or seas, no sun or moon, and no wind either. She liked the continuous change, but she was also still unfamiliar with the spontaneity that Earth provided. You could say she feared it, but she was also learning to embrace it.

"How are things going at the barn?" Garnet asked, pointing her steely gaze ahead.

Lapis kicked some sand and watched as it lingered in the air. "Fine."

Garnet froze. "Are you sure about that?" There was a touch of disbelief in her voice, but Lapis decided to ignore it.

"Of course." Lapis pressed, folding her arms and lifting her shoulder in a half shrug.

"Peridot seemed to be very upset at your arrival." Garnet pointed out, putting her hands on her hips. Lapis tried not to be intimidated.

"She was. But we're fine now."

Garnet looked at her for a long moment, before dropping her hands and continuing her slow gait.

"Alright then."

One minute passed. Two minutes. Lapis sighed and turned to Garnet. She needed to talk to someone, or else she was going to explode. If that person had to be a crystal gem, so be it. She didn't feel like she had a lot of options, either way.

"I lied." She confessed, pressing her palm to her cheek to hide from Garnet's curious demeanour. 

"Hm?" Garnet stopped walking and raised an eyebrow.

"I lied when I said things are fine. They aren't." She elucidated, feeling her muscles tense.

The taller gem hummed thoughtfully. "Why not?"

"We're always arguing, or avoiding each other, or at best tolerating each other. I hate it, but I don't know what to do about it."

"Arguments are normal and healthy. It's how you deal with them that's important." Garnet explained. Lapis thought on this for a moment.

"What do you mean?" She inquired, craning her neck to attempt to maintain eye contact with the gem standing in front of her.

Garnet sighed and led Lapis to sit on a wooden bench that was facing the ocean. "Well, when Ruby and Sapphire argue-"

"I've never seen you two argue before," Lapis interjected.  
Garnet smiled, and her mind shot back to the many times she'd unfused, back when she'd first arrived on Earth. "It rarely happens, but it does, trust me."

"But you two seem.... so perfect and well put together," Lapis said slowly, clasping her hands behind her back. That was Garnet, always together and always perfect. Ruby and Sapphire had the ideal relationship in her eyes. They never fought, never hurt each other and never broke apart.

"Love takes time. It takes work. What seems perfect on the outside may be broken on the inside." Garnet affirmed, turning her head to face the tumbling waters of the sea. A flush of adrenaline tingled through Lapis's body and travelled up to her face at the mention of the heavy word. 

"Love? Um, Peridot and I aren't- We- It's not like that." Lapis rushed to correct her, threading one hand through her windswept hair and the other one gripped at the bench.

Garnet turned her head and studied Lapis's swift reaction with abrupt interest. "Right. As I was saying, when Ruby and Sapphire argue, they usually reach an agreement that benefits them both."

"And how do we do that?" 

"By listening." Garnet deadpanned.

"All we argue about is insignificant things. It's like she purposely tries to start an argument for no reason!" It was true. Lapis was trying to give Peridot space, but the green gem seemed always to find something to argue about.

Garnet nodded and cupped a hand around her chin. "I see." 

"What do you think I should do?" Lapis asked.   
"It seems like Peridot wants to find an excuse to talk to you, hence the pointless arguments, but she doesn't know how to express herself properly. I think you should give her time to figure herself out, but in the end, it's up to you." Garnet said, sagely turning her head to look at the frothing waves. A comfortable silence followed as Lapis's thoughts rolled around messily in her head.

They finally got up and slowly walked back to the beach house at a leisurely pace. Steven still hadn't arrived yet, but she found that she didn't need to talk to him about this anymore. When they reached the door, Lapis's hand stilled on the handle, and as Garnet approached, she turned to her with a half-smirk.

"Thanks," Lapis said, as she held her hand up in a thumbs up gesture.

Garnet's mouth remained stationary, but she reciprocated the gesture. "Good talk."


	14. Chapter 14

Peridot was currently pacing around the barn, her hand stretched outwards and brushed against every object while she walked. Her hand stilled as it found the tape recorder that Lapis had fixed, and as she studied it, her mind filled with thoughts of the blue gem. These last few days had been a series of arguments, one after the other, and Peridot usually instigated them.

That morning, Peridot had approached her and asked her to remove the water from the shed, which had filtered in when Lapis had used it to levitate the barn. The small argument had eventually escalated, and Lapis had flown away to wherever she was now. That was the usual pattern that their arguments followed. Peridot knew that she was being difficult, but it was only due to the innate desire in her that wanted to test Lapis, to see how far she would bend. 

Lapis had promised to stay, but Peridot still didn't trust that. Admittedly, she also wanted an excuse to talk, because the silence in the barn was becoming suffocating, and pointless chatter was better than nothing, at least in her eyes. Lapis was happy to lounge around and avoid her, usually distracting herself with books or magazines she found laying around. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a hoarse voice yelling through the opening in the barn. She scampered to the jutting truck, and when she peered downwards, Amethyst was there, waving her hands around.

"P-Dot, come down here already!" Amethyst whined, her face bearing an annoyed frown.

"Stop yelling, you clod! You'll wake Pumpkin!" Peridot yelled back, jerking a thumb behind her, where Pumpkin was drooling on the mattress.

"Oh sorry. Come down here already." The other gem whispered, holding her index finger up to her lips in a shushing motion.

Peridot rolled her eyes and clambered down the ladder, tiptoeing on the floorboards and avoiding certain ones which she knew were the most likely to creak loudly. She'd finally reached Amethyst who was waiting outside with patiently crossed arms.

"So, how are things with Lapis going?" Amethyst greeted upon sighting the green gem.

"Fine-" Her immediate response was interrupted when she heard the name as her mind reeled back to a specific memory that was stored at the back of her head.

"Did you talk to Lapis recently?"

"Yeah, why?" Amethyst asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Nothing." Peridot shrugged casually. "What did you talk about?" She wanted her face to remain stoic, like Garnet, so she tried her best to make her face as still as possible.

Amethyst scratched her head as she tried to scour her mind. "Uh, well, first she asked me about what you wanted as a gift-"

"Wait, what?" Peridot said incredulously, her face no longer stoic. "Why would she come to you for that?"

"That's what I said!" Amethyst agreed. "Then she said something about me giving you a tape recorder and I told her that you'd found it." She finished noncommittally, picking at her nails.

"Why would you tell her that?"

Amethyst's eyebrows shot into her hairline as her eyes darted up to study Peridot's fuming eyes. "Uh, because it's the truth?"

"What I told her and what you said is the same thing!" Peridot exclaimed, affronted by Amethyst's lukewarm reaction.

"Uh, no it's not." Amethyst shook her head and watched with amusement in her eyes as Peridot stomped on the grass.

A sudden thought crawled through Amethyst's head. "Why did you tell her that I gave you a tape recorder in the first place?"

Peridot felt like her tongue was stuck in her mouth, as she spun around to address Amethyst. "Because- You know what? Forget it." She said as she waved a dismissive hand at the purple gem.

"No, wait-" Amethyst had been about to say something, and then her eyes flickered, and she froze. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before, yet now it dawned on her as clear as day.

"What?" Peridot drawled uncertainly, as Amethyst had been looking at her with a creepy smile for an uncomfortable amount of time. Amethyst's smirk widened, and Peridot prepared herself for whatever was going to come out of the other gem's mouth.

"Did you use me to make Lapis jealous?"

Peridot did a double take, and her whole body jerked back. A heavy feeling filled up her stomach as she realised that her reaction had probably confirmed whatever Amethyst had cooked up in her crazy mind.

"Wh- Where did you come up with that cloddy idea?" She stammered and winced inwardly as her voice had risen an octave without her consent.

"It makes perfect sense!" Amethyst exclaimed, snapping her fingers as she thought back to her encounter with Lapis. "It also explains why Lapis threw sand at my face." She added, chuckling at Peridot's expression.

"She threw-"

"This is golden!" Amethyst was ignoring her and clapping her hands in glee. She was not going to let this go, ever.

Peridot scoffed, swatting Amethyst's hands away and grabbing her by the shoulders to make her pay attention to what she was about to say. "It is not, because that is not what happened." She assured, making sure to maintain eye contact and to keep her eyes wide open to illustrate her point further.

Amethyst shrugged her off and laughed in her face. "Maybe I should start calling you P-Denial instead of P-Dot."

Peridot let out a noise of frustration and stomped her foot. "Stop talking about it!"

"Alright, I'll stop talking about it," Amethyst raised her hands up in surrender, before bending down to hold her stomach in. Short bursts of laughter were escaping her lips. "You know I'm only messing with you, right?" Amethyst placated, still trying to keep her laughter at bay, and failing. Peridot crossed her arms and glared at the dirt.

Peridot waited until Amethyst had calmed down and swiftly changed the subject before the other gem could start teasing her again.

"Where have you been this week?"

"Oh, just showing the new gems around beach city. Those rutile twins are awesome." Amethyst's eyes sparkled in amazement at the thought of the two gems.

"Where are they staying?" Peridot queried. She was mostly trying to distract Amethyst from mentioning Lapis again, but she was also admittedly curious. The new gems were still strangers to her, but she did have a small fondness for them, ever since she'd fixed their nova thrusters.

"Well, I originally wanted them to stay at the beach house, but Pearl said there's not enough room." Amethyst groaned, rolling her eyes. "I know that the Rutile twins are staying with Lars at his house, Rhodonite is always at the Big Donut, Fluorite is staying at the beach house, and Padparadscha is hanging out with Steven at Funland." 

"Funland?"

Amethyst's eyes widened in recognition, and she slapped her forehead."Oh! That reminds me, Steven wants me to help him win some games. You can come along if you want. "

"Sure," Peridot replied. It had been a while since she'd gone to the amusement park, and she felt like she needed it.

"Really?"

Peridot shrugged. 

"Let's go then. Shorty Squad Assemble!" Amethyst exclaimed in a deeper voice as she fist pumped the air.

\---

Lapis had been waiting around for Steven to arrive for an hour, but he still hadn't shown up yet. She decided to come back later, but as she was stepping down the stairs that led to the beach, a strange human walked up to her.

This human had blonde hair that was shaped like an onion and fingers stained with paint, with tattered clothes that hung loosely on her figure.

"Uh, hey, is Peridot here?" The human was lugging around some objects, and she dropped them on the sand for a moment.

Lapis felt her spine tighten and she crossed her arms. "Peridot?" What did this human want with Peridot?

"Yeah." She confirmed, peering over Lapis's shoulder to search the beach house. "Short, green, has hair shaped like a triangle-" The human gesticulated as she explained.

"No, I know who she is," Lapis interjected, waving her off. "She's my roommate." She added as a cloud of confusion swept over the human's face.

"Oh, really?" The human raised her eyebrows. "Well can you give here these?" She held up the objects, and Lapis realised that paints cans were hanging off a spindly arm.

"What are these for?"

"They're used to make paintings."

Lapis touched the base of her neck and narrowed her eyes at the human. She'd heard the word before, but she needed the human to clarify further.

"Paintings?" 

"Yeah, paintings." The human nodded, a small smile beginning to form on her lips. "You paint whatever you want on the canvas to form a picture."

"Oh." Lapis's hands dropped, and she nodded her head in understanding. So, paintings were just another word for meep morps, then. An idea sprung up inside her head. "Can you show me?" 

The human thought for a moment, before breaking out into a full smile and putting the paints down. "Well, sure. Here." She opened a sealed package, and inside were some canvasses, brand new and silky white. Lapis watched as the human propped one upon a rock, and bent over to crack open a can of paint. She reached over to dip her hand into her pocket and fished out an old, paint-splattered brush. 

"Okay, now all you have to do it put this inside the paint, and brush it over the canvas."

Lapis did as she was instructed, by first dipping the full end of the brush into a can of red paint, and then she inched closer to the canvas to begin painting random swirls and shapes. The human helped her paint a house, some clouds and a car.

"Well, it's been nice meeting you, but I have to get back." The human sighed, gesturing towards the direction she'd come from. "I'm Vidalia, by the way."

"Lapis Lazuli. Thank you for this." Lapis reached out to shake Vidalia's hand as she'd seen humans do. Peridot had said that this was what humans did when they wanted to thank another human, but she wasn't so sure of that.

"You're welcome." Vidalia chuckled, as she shook Lapis's hand. Gems seemed to be obsessed with shaking hands. "Say hello to Peridot for me!" She called out, as she began walking away from the blue gem.

Lapis smiled. "I will."

\---

Lapis had returned to find the barn empty, much to her disappointment, but then she realised that this was the perfect opportunity to implement her idea. She laid down the paints and the canvasses and began slowly brushing on an empty canvas. She patiently scrounged over each detail, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, being extra careful not to mess up, and finally, she leaned back to study the product. The finished piece was not a masterpiece, but it had admittedly gone better than she'd expected, and she smiled in satisfaction. After adding a few final touches, she laid it to dry behind some crates, and plopped herself on the hammock, her hands behind her head. She swung herself to sleep, a pleasant smile still stuck to her face.

\---

Peridot closed her eyes as she felt the ride accelerate, and her hands tightened around the handlebars. Amethyst had begun screaming, so she figured that they were at the top of the ride and were about to plunge at any moment. The ride slowed, before dipping and descending at an alarming speed, the wind stinging Peridot's face and her heart dropping to her feet. Steven was hollering behind her, and she guessed that Padparadscha was also paralysed in fear due to her silence. 

She waited for what seemed like an hour, and then she felt the ride slow down again, but she didn't dare open her eyes. The tapping on her shoulder made her blink one eye open, and she sighed in relief when she saw the passengers climb out of the ride with flushed faces and the residue of excitement still clinging onto their eyes. 

"How did you like the new ride?" Amethyst asked as they meandered around the park. Her hair was windswept, and some fell in her eyes, and so she blew out a breath, making it flutter.

Funland has installed a new ride, which was called, ''The Skullinator", and it had been advertised as the most ''thrilling'' ride in the park. Of course, this meant that Amethyst had to try it at least once.

"I don't know why you insist on riding on the front seats," Peridot grumbled, brushing off a feather that had been stuck on her shoulder.

"Uh, because they're the best seats in the house. Duh?" Amethyst scoffed, tying her hair up in a ponytail after she'd gotten tired of fighting with it.

"Whatever you say," Peridot said, adjusting her visors. It was useless arguing with Amethyst.

Peridot turned to Steven and Padparadscha, walking at a reasonable pace behind them. The former had his hands shoved deep in a bag of popcorn, and his mouth was tainted with butter, so Peridot flitted her eyes to the smaller gem. The strange gem still had her head bowed, probably because she was still recovering from the shock of the rollercoaster, and her hair was hanging over her eyes. Peridot realised that she had never actually seen the gem's eyes before.

"Padparadscha, can I ask you something?" Steven piped up, mouth still full of popcorn.

Padparadscha nodded and smiled uncertainly. "Sure, Steven."

Steven swallowed before turning to Padparadscha, which forced the whole group to falter at a claw machine with stuffed animals trapped inside it. Peridot decided to try her luck while Steven was conversing with the other gem, and so she fished out a coin and inserted it into the slot. The lever was easy to control, but the claw was tricky, just as it lowered and clutched at an object, its gaping maws sprang open again, and the stuffed animal fell back into the machine. After three attempts, Peridot began banging on the machine.

"This cloddy machine is rigged!" She growled, baring her teeth at it.

Amethyst approached her silently and stared at her for a moment.

"You know you have metal powers right?" 

Peridot hunched her shoulders and crossed her arms. "It's called ferrokinesis, but yes, I get your point." She seethed. She was still angry at the claw machine, and at the park's owners for making this so complicated.

"So? Just do your thing, and get it." Amethyst shrugged, her eyes still following Peridot's stance curiously. Peridot was making such a big deal out of nothing, for absolutely no reason and it baffled her.

Peridot's shoulders slumped, and her expression melted. "I want to do it the proper way." She confessed, reaching inside her gem for another coin.

Amethyst's nose wrinkled. "Uh, why would you want to do that?" She asked incredulously, looking at Peridot as if she was a crazy person. Who'd choose cheating and winning over playing fair and losing? That made no sense in her mind.

Peridot ignored her and slipped another coin into the slot. Her eyes pierced through the glass of the machine, and her hands trembled as she lowered the lever. She pushed the red button, and the claws grasped onto something. She tried to squint to see what the metallic contraption had found with its teeth, but she couldn't see properly, and so she held her breath and pulled the lever upwards. The claw struggled, and Peridot pushed the lever with all her might.

Peridot watched with fascination in her eyes as all the stuffed animals in the machine parted like a multicoloured sea as a blue teddy bear was lifted up, his foot caught by the menacing claw. She gently lowered it onto the platform and bent over to pull it out of the machine, once it had fallen through. The bear was so large that it could barely squeeze through the opening, and Peridot had to use her feet as leverage. It was almost as big as her, she realised, as she held it up for the others to see.

They walked around and played a few more games, and then Amethyst piped up again.

"So, can you really see the past?" Amethyst asked Padparadscha, as she was licking the residue of cotton candy off her fingers.

Padparadscha faltered and her eyebrows furrowed. "Well, yes. My future vision is defective, and so I see the past, instead of the future." She explained, clasping her hands together. "I can only see what has happened a few minutes prior, however, so don't get your hopes up." She added when she saw Steven's eyes light up.

"Dude, that is still really cool." Amethyst pointed out, her eyes clouding over with amazement.

Padparadscha turned to Amethyst, and her hands dropped in surprise. "It is?" 

"Yeah! Like, can you see what Pearl is doing?"

"Hmm. She's just washed Steven's clothing." She said, shrugging at the simplicity.

Amethyst groaned. Of course, Pearl was doing laundry on a Sunday. "That's boring, so it must be true."

"Oh Oh! I've got one!" Steven's eyes lit up, and he put his hand up as if to get permission to speak. "What is Garnet doing right now?" He asked, waiting expectantly for the answer.

The smaller gem smiled. "She's just petted a kitten."

Well, that was unexpected.

"Oh, well..that's-" Steven stammered.

"-And then she wrestled with an alligator and won." Padparadscha finished, chuckling under her breath.

Steven nodded. "That sounds more like Garnet."

"Uh...What is Lapis doing?" Peridot blurted out before she could stop herself. Amethyst cupped a hand around her chin, subtly trying not to let her smirk show through the gaps in her fingers as she turned away. Steven raised his eyebrow at the purple gem.

"Hmm...Let me see..." Padparadscha hummed as she pressed her forefingers against her forehead, trying to reach the blue gem. It was more difficult because she'd only met her once.

"She's just met with a human with funny looking hair who was carrying cans of paint, and is now doing something with them." She said, dropping her hands down to look at Peridot.

"Wait wh-" Peridot had confusion written all over face until she realised. The human with the funny looking hair must have been Vidalia with the paint and canvasses. They'd arranged to meet at the beach house, but Peridot had forgotten about their arrangement and Vidalia must have walked there anyway. But where did Lapis fit into the equation? Had Lapis found out about their arrangement? She could've, by speaking to Amethyst. Had she purposely gone there to steal her paint and canvasses to attempt revenge over Peridot asking her to clean the shed that morning? No, that didn't make any sense, but it was the only scenario in her head, as she broke off running.

"That's my paint!"

\---

Lapis had been engrossed in a very interesting dream when a loud noise made her sit up, and her mind suddenly switched to alert mode. Before she could feel her feet hit the ground, Peridot bolted in and halted in front of her.

"What's happening?" Lapis asked.

Peridot held a hand up to tell her to wait, as she bent over and rested her hands on her knees, still panting from the tiring sprint she'd just had, and with a giant bear on her back to boot. Once she'd gotten her breath back, she raised her head and posed a question.

"Have you been using my paint?"

"Yes, I used some of it but- Wait, how did you know?"

"Padparadscha," Peridot said. "Why were you using it? You have plenty of paint cans on your side of the barn!" She cried, before pausing to raise an eyebrow. "Don't tell me. You used my canvasses too."

Lapis shrugged her shoulders and looked at the opened paint cans. "Well, I only used a few paint cans, and I did paint on a canvas, but-"

"Why didn't you ask me?" Peridot interjected, rubbing her two fingers against her closed eyelids.

"I thought you'd be fine with it. I-" Lapis stammered, her hands fumbling with themselves behind her back.

"Well, I'm not."

Peridot paced around the barn, her footsteps bounding across until she'd reached the paint cans. She crouched, and dipped her finger inside the paint pensively, before turning back to face Lapis.

Lapis had crossed her arms, and her mouth was set in a hard line. "I thought this was our home." She said, stepping forward. "Ours." She repeated. "That means both of us can use everything in the barn."

"Yeah, but..." Peridot sighed, and lowered herself down onto the hammock, looking at Lapis directly. "I don't touch your books without your permission, so why can't you just do the same for me?" She asked in a more subdued tone.

The blue gem felt a stab of anger. "Well, I'm sorry for not asking you to use something which was in OUR barn-"

"Lapis, just listen to me!" Peridot shouted, her frustration kicking in. She immediately felt a tinge of weariness in her bones as she rose up from the hammock to be closer to Lapis.

"Okay." The other gem muttered, still shocked by the green gem's sudden tenacity. She'd remembered what Garnet had told her then. "Listen."

"I don't want to fight with you, Lapis," Peridot stated. "I really don't." She kept her eyes locked with Lapis's as she said this, to make her point clearer. A raw silence took over the room, and Peridot had to break the gaze.

"Are you sure about that?"

Peridot's eyes flashed back to the blue gem's. "What is that supposed to mean?" Peridot asked, squinting at Lapis.

Lapis let out a mirthless laugh and bowed her head. Peridot had to know what she was talking about. She lifted her head back up, and her eyes glared through the other gem. "You've been picking fights with me all week. First the DVD, then the shed, now the paint cans, I just don't understand!" Lapis cried as she threaded her fingers through her hair out of pure frustration, which was all being caused by the gem in front of her. She had never been this frustrated with someone before. Ever.

"Well, what about you?!" Peridot guffawed, inching closer to Lapis to shove her finger in her face. "All you do is sit around and ignore me! I have to do something to attract your attention!"

"I thought you needed your space," Lapis said, her face contorted in confusion. Everything about Peridot was confusing.

"I do! But that doesn't mean I don't want to spend time with you!" Peridot rubbed her hands over her face and looked up at Lapis with an unrecognisable emotion set deeply in her eyes.

"I miss when we used to watch Camp Pining Hearts together, and when we used to make meep morps," Peridot admitted. "I miss when we used to stargaze and when we used to try and teach Pumpkin to say 'clod', even though she never will." Peridot smiled, and a corner of Lapis's lips quirked up at this, her anger had now melted off her.

"I miss not fighting all the time." Peridot continued, her smile fading. Lapis was listening intently this time, careful not to interrupt whatever this was.

"I miss just being with you." Peridot wrapped her arms around herself and leaned away from her, trying to hide her glistening eyes.

Lapis felt her heart stutter and her eyes widened of their own accord.

"Peridot...." She reluctantly reached out to the smaller gem, as one would to a wounded animal. Her hand found her shoulder, and Lapis paused, waiting for Peridot to flinch or to push her off. Nothing happened. She urged herself closer and slowly wrapped her own arms around Peridot, feeling her whole body tense underneath her. A few long seconds passed, where Peridot stood shock still, but then her shoulders dropped, and she reciprocated, burying her head in Lapis's midriff, fistfuls of dress in her hands.

"I miss you, too," Lapis mumbled into her hair.

Peridot never wanted this moment to end, she realised. It was like being cocooned in a snug blanket, except the blanket was Lapis. She had never understood why humans liked hugging so much, until now. The warmth she was feeling, both inside and outside, could not be replicated by anything else other than Lapis herself, which was ironic, her being a water gem and all. Eventually, they had to break away, and Lapis did a double take as Peridot beamed up at her with a flushed face. 

"I'm sorry for making such a big deal out of paint cans, and I don't even know why-"

"No, don't apologize," Lapis interjected, waving Peridot's apology away. "You're right. I should've asked you before I decided to use them. Vidalia gave them to you, not to me. I'm sorry for not thinking-" 

"You were right, though," Peridot said, sheepishly staring at the floor. "The barn is ours, so everything in it by default belongs to both of us. I don't care if you use my things, I was just arguing with you because that's the only time we manage to talk."

"I'm sorry for avoiding you, Peridot." Lapis sighed, remembering all the times she'd hid away from Peridot, only because she was afraid of confrontation.

"We're even now, right?" Peridot asked, holding out her hand.

"Yeah." She stumbled back as she felt something wet land on her cheek and as her eyes flitted downward, she noticed that Peridot was hiding her paint-splattered hand behind her back.

"Did you just-"

"Yes," Peridot affirmed, before giggling obnoxiously at her and sprinting out of the barn.

"Oh! You're going to get it!"


	15. Chapter 15

Peridot was currently invested in her mission to plant some vegetables, and Lapis could hear her swear under her breath as she tried to shove her hand into the stubborn dirt. Lapis peeked over her magazine and studied the green gem's form with a hidden smile. She reached for her glass of orange juice which was sat on a rickety end table and sipped it. Peridot growled and sat up on her heels. "Lapis? A little help here?" She craned her neck to look at the laid-back gem who was sitting on an antique chair behind her. Her face twisted into a scowl when her eyes met the other gem's blue ones, which were watching her intently. 

"Enjoying the view?"

"Mhm." Lapis winked at her from behind the magazine, casually flipping to the next page.

Peridot swallowed, swiftly turning away to study the dirt's qualities and almost tripping over her own two feet. It felt like a thousand burning coals were under her cheeks. Lapis was acting weird, and she didn't know if she liked it or not. They suddenly heard a small pattering of footsteps approaching them, and a small hand emerged from a field of corn. 

"Hey, guys!" Steven brushed off the leaves that had gotten caught in his hair.

"Steven!" They both cried, leaping up from their positions to greet him.

"So, what are you guys doing?"

"I'm trying to plant some vegetables, but this dirt won't budge!" Peridot told him, gesturing to the dirt under her feet, which had hand prints all over it.

"I'm watching her do that." Lapis shrugged.

"Peridot, you can't plant any vegetables right now! It's winter!" Steven exclaimed, spreading his arms towards the layer of snow which was covering the ground.

"So?"

"The dirt is frozen." Steven deadpanned.

"I know!" Peridot huffed impatiently. "So, how do I plant the vegetables?"

"You'll have to wait until Spring."

"When is Spring?"

"Uh." Steven fiddled with his collar. "After Christmas?"

"When is Christmas?"

"Uh...Today."

"Christmas?" Lapis piped up from her chair.

Steven's eyebrows dropped in understanding. "Oh, you don't know what Christmas is, do you?" 

"Nope." They both replied.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain." Steven began. "It's this day where you exchange gifts with your friends and family, and all sit under a Christmas tree, and bake cookies, and visit Santa Claus, and do a bunch of other stuff."

"Who is Santa Claus?" Lapis asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"You know what? I knew this would happen, so here." He reached into his gem and pulled out a book with a bold title engraved on the front cover.

"Christmas For Dummies?"  
\---

They had been both poring over the book for an hour, sitting on the couch with the book spread evenly between them. Everything in the book seemed strange and unnecessary to Lapis, but Peridot seemed excited to try new things, evidenced by the glimmering in her eyes.

"It says here that we will have to cut a tree from its root with a hatchet and bring it into the barn," Peridot explained, pointing to the aforementioned image that was drawn on the left page.

"Why?"

"Because it's what the book says." Peridot shrugged and turned to the next page to continue reading. "It also says that we have to decorate it."

"Steven said that cutting trees is bad." Lapis intoned, grimacing at the picture with distaste.

Peridot turned to look at Lapis with a raised eyebrow. "Are you questioning the book, Lazuli?" She asked, smiling playfully at the blue gem.

"No." Lapis gave a lopsided grin.

After a few seconds of perusing the book's pages, Peridot chimed in again. "Do you know where we can get a tree?"

Lapis hummed, and her mind filled with images of when Steven had shown her around the world, and one particular location was littered with trees. "I guess we can try getting one from the woods?"

"That's a great idea! High Five!" Peridot had leapt up from the couch and was waiting expectantly for Lapis to do something with her raised hand.

"Hmmmm...no." Lapis tittered, bopping the green gem's nose with her finger.  
\---

Lapis dropped Peridot unceremoniously on the snow, before landing on her two feet gracefully and sheathing her wings. 

"Lazuli!"

Lapis ignored her and walked ahead of her, forcing Peridot to scramble up and stomp after her. They soon found a perfect sized tree in the middle of the wood, and its bark didn't look too tough to handle, at least that's what Peridot thought. She swang the hatchet at the root, the blade lodging itself in the grain. As Peridot pulled on it, however, the blade wouldn't budge, and it remained stuck there. After a few minutes of Peridot trying to twist on the handle, Lapis approached her from behind and clasped her hands with her own. Peridot froze until she felt Lapis try to grasp the wooden shaft from her hands, in an attempt to pry it away from the gem's hands.

"Stop pulling!" Lapis whined.

"What are you do-"

In the midst of this, Peridot stumbled backwards, sending the hatchet blade flying into the air as it lodged itself into another tree. She promptly fell on her backside, with only a wooden shaft in her hands. She stared dumbly at it, and when she heard a loud snort, she looked up to find Lapis doubling in laughter.

"Oh, you think that's funny, do you? Look what you've done!" She held up the handle, but that only made Lapis laugh even harder, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Peridot fumed and clutched a handful of snow in her hand, shaping it into a ball.

"Hey, Lapis!"

"Wh-"

Peridot flung the snowball in a steady arc at Lapis's face. It splattered on her cheek with a satisfying sound, the only noise now disturbing the woods, and small pieces of ice dripped onto her dress. 

"Who's laughing now?" Peridot smirked victoriously.

Lapis's eyes glinted dangerously among the layer of snow that was still covering her face.

"Peridot, what do you think snow is made of?" She asked, in an innocent tone.

Peridot's face whitened, but she had no time to lose as she leapt up to her feet and bounded amongst the trees. She could feel her back being pattered with snow as she ran, her footsteps leaving a trail behind her. Eventually, her foot got caught in a branch, and she fell face first in a pile of wet snow which hadn't hardened properly. A groan left her mouth, and as she turned her head in order to face the sky, she felt a foot nudge at her legs, and soon she was looking into vast ocean blue eyes.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I fell," Peridot said flatly, looking up at the blue gem with a scowl.

Lapis lowered herself onto Peridot so that she was hovering over her with a self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face.

"Did you think you'd able to escape from me?" She purred.

Lapis grabbed hold of Peridot's arms and pressed them against the snow, keeping her from sitting up, despite her squirming.

"Season 3 is better than Season 2 of Camp Pining Hearts. Say it."

Peridot gaped at her, before whipping her head from side to side.

"Say it!" Lapis repeated, her hands struggling to keep Peridot's arms trapped.

"Never! Only a clod would say that!" Peridot tried to lift her feet, but the other gem's legs trapped them.

"Then you give me no choice." Lapis frowned, her lips pressing into a severe line.

She brought her face closer to Peridot's, and the green gem stopped squirming and licked her dry lips. Lapis's eyes darted to this tiny movement, before flitting up again, but it was so quick that Peridot wouldn't have caught if it wouldn't have been for how intently she was looking at the blue gem. Lapis hovered over her face for a moment longer, before tilting her head and blowing a raspberry in Peridot's ear. Loudly.

"That's disgusting! Get off me!" Peridot shuddered and began thrashing around wildly, but Lapis wouldn't budge.

"Not until you say it!"

Peridot huffed, and shut her eyes, before opening them in defeat.

"Season 3 is better than Season 2." She muttered, cringing inwardly. 

"Good enough." Lapis eased the tension in her arms, which allowed Peridot to slip through. The blue gem got up, offering a lithe hand to Peridot, which the green gem reluctantly accepted. 

"I can't believe you made me say that."

"It's only the truth."

So, they hadn't managed to cut down a tree. They decided instead steal a fake one from a deserted warehouse, which they managed to levitate using Lapis's hydrokinesis. "Now what?" Lapis asked as she plopped herself down on the hammock with her hands behind her head.

"Now we have to decorate it with 'ornaments'. Whatever that means."

They began pacing around the barn, searching for things to hang on the tree, and they put everything on a pile in the middle of the barn. Most of these items were random knick-knacks like a baseball glove and a bowling pin, but they did find some baubles in the shed that matched the description in the book. They were frozen thanks to the water which had filtered in, but they were still pretty. Peridot and Lapis began carefully arranging these on the tree, along with Pumpkin who occasionally carried things over to them and then they both stood back to look at the finished product.

"Something is missing." Peridot cupped her chin, her fingers brushing over her lips methodically in thought.

"Oh! I know." Lapis piped up, turning around to shove her hand in the cardboard box which they had found in the shed. After a few seconds of digging, she pulled out a golden star which had a fitting hole on the bottom, made to be put on the top of the tree.

"We should do it together," Lapis suggested sheepishly, brushing a hand over her hair.

Peridot hummed. "I agree."

Lapis pulled out a stool for Peridot to step onto, and then they both held onto a corner of the star, gently attaching it to the top of the tree.

The next step in the book was to exchange gifts. They sat down on the floorboards next to the Christmas tree after wrapping up their gifts in separate rooms, and then they traded them.  
Peridot studied the wrapped up gift with curiosity gleaming in her eyes. It seemed to be in a shape of a rectangle, but she could see that Lapis was getting impatient by the jiggling of her foot, and so she tore the wrapping paper and placed it neatly on her side. It was a painting, of her, Lapis and Pumpkin sitting on a field of grass with the sun shining above them. She couldn't imagine a better gift.

"Did you paint this?" She asked, gazing at the painting with unbridled fascination.

"Yeah."

"It's perfect." The other gem's cheeks blossomed in warmth as Peridot engulfed her in a fierce hug.

It was Lapis's turn to open her gift. The present was in the shape of a giant box, and she tried giving it a little shake to try to guess what it was, but no noise came out. She haphazardly tore the paper from its package and lifted the lid that was encasing the box. A fluffy blue head popped out, and as she pulled the strange object out, she discovered that it was a blue bear that came up to her midriff. It had a small teardrop stitched onto its stomach, and on its back, a pair of wings, both of which she guessed hadn't been there formerly.

"Where did you get this?"

"I managed to beat the claw machine at Funland, and I didn't even have to use my ferrokinesis!" Peridot exclaimed, her chest puffing up with pride. After a few moments, her expression dropped and a light flush crawled onto her cheeks. "It reminded me of you."

Lapis narrowed her eyes. "So, a bear reminded you of me?"

Peridot's mouth snapped shut. "Well no, it's only because- well-"

"Peridot, stop." Lapis was giggling into her hand.

"Huh?"

"I'm just joking. I think it's adorable." She almost blurted out, 'like you', but thankfully she had a strong hold on her tongue. Instead, she scooted over to press a chaste kiss on Peridot's cheek.

Peridot bowed her head and looked intently at the floor.  
\---  
After failing horrendously at almost every task that came after that which included blowtorching cookies, they decided to visit the beach house, as Steven had invited them for a 'Christmas Party'. Amethyst opened the door with a massive grin and led them inside where Pearl, Garnet, Steven and the Off Colours were sitting next to a roaring fire. Everyone was immersed in a separate conversation, but the chatter didn't falter at their appearance, and they were greeted warmly.

"Peridot. Lapis." Garnet nodded at them in greeting, holding a glass filled to the brim with some strange fluid.

"What is that concoction?" Peridot slowly asked, pointing to the drink.

"That's eggnog," Steven said, rubbing his hands together for warmth, and then he noticed Lapis curiously tilting her head at it.

"Would you guys like some? Pearl made it." Steven offered, holding out two glasses. They both looked at each other and shrugged, before cradling the warm drinks in their hands and taking a hesitant sip.

"It's not bad," Peridot muttered, going in for more. There was something unusual about the drink that she couldn't pinpoint, and then she noticed Amethyst giggling behind a shaky hand.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing." Amethyst shrugged, but the chuckles kept escaping.

Peridot narrowed her eyes at the mischievious gem, before tipping her head back and swallowing the whole thing. Some residue of the concoction lingered on her upper lip, and as she reached up to clean it, she felt some movement at her side. Lapis lowered her drink on the counter and leaned over to slowly swipe her thumb over Peridot's lip, making sure to get every drop. The green gem stood transfixed, careful not to make any sudden movements under the blue gem's touch. After the whole ordeal, Lapis dared to smirk at her before putting her thumb in her mouth and licking it off, in the meanwhile her eyes remained locked with Peridot's as if to gauge her reaction. She felt her upper lip tingle as if it'd just been under the flames in the fireplace, and a slight twinge in her body made her squirm. She shuffled her feet. Her gaze jumped from person to person. They were all watching the scene unfold intently, and she found that she couldn't stay in the room any longer.

"Uh..bathroom." She had barely uttered that before she skittered off and locked the door behind her.

'What is she playing at?' Peridot asked herself as she sat on the edge of the bathtub and cradled her head in her hands. Her face felt warm to the touch, and so she splashed some cold water on it. Lately, Lapis had been invested in her secret goal to make Peridot uncomfortable. She didn't know what she had done to deserve this. They hadn't had any arguments lately, and Peridot hadn't done anything to anger Lapis, not anything that she remembered anyhow, so why was Lapis so fixed on making her flustered? Peridot was not going to fall for her tricks. She was going to ride out whatever phase Lapis was in, but she wasn't going to let herself get embarrassed anymore. If Lapis wanted to act weirdly and make a fool of herself, then so be it. She reentered the living room, and to her luck, the chatter resumed as if nothing had happened.

Peridot wondered if she had imagined the whole situation, but then she noticed Amethyst approaching her with a badly hidden simper. She hurriedly ducked to the left, hiding behind Garnet's...mass, and Amethyst squinted, turning away to search in another spot. Garnet moved to get another glass of eggnog, and so Peridot was left with Rhodonite, who began talking to her about how amazing this new planet was. Peridot nodded, drowning out the voice as she looked at Lapis who was chuckling at a joke that Steven had just made. The blue gem felt her face itch, but as she turned her head, there was no one there. She shrugged and went back to listening to Steven.

"I have another joke!" Steven exclaimed, holding a small green book in his left hand. "So a penguin and a farmer walk into a bar..." He squinted as he read out the joke.

Lapis sighed and smiled half-heartedly. "Steven, this is the seventh joke you've tried to tell me, and I don't get any of them."

"Didn't you have jokes on Homeworld?"

"No."

"That's sad," Steven said, putting down the book.

"Not really, we just didn't have any need for them," Lapis explained, sipping some more eggnog.

"But I've heard you laugh before, so you must have some need for them. Right?" Steven asked uncertainly, his face bearing a hopeful grin.

Lapis shrugged.

"Oh come on!" Steven huffed, crossing his arms. "You laugh at Peridot's jokes all the time!"

"And she doesn't even do them right." He added under his breath.

Lapis smirked. "That's what makes them funny."

Peridot was focused on avoiding Lapis, and so, the enormous amounts of eggnog she was ingesting went unnoticed. It had a particular ingredient that was enticing her and making crave more, but now she was feeling a bit dizzy. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe you should calm down on the eggnog." A silky voice whispered in her ear.

"You calm down." She slurred, clumsily spilling a bit of eggnog on her shirt, in her haste to turn around.

"Are you drunk?" Lapis asked. A drop of amusement glittered in her eyes.

"I didn't-" She hiccuped, and Lapis felt her heart flutter at how adorable this simple action was. "I didn't drink anything." Peridot continued, raising the drink to her mouth, but before it could reach her lips, it was gently plucked away. Her eyes flitted to the same blue hand which had touched her lips earlier, and then she remembered that she was still angry at Lapis.

"Here, sit down." Lapis took her by the arm and was urging her to sit on the couch. Peridot slipped out of her grip and raised her chin.

"Why did you do that?"

Lapis looked at her for a moment, as if waiting for a continuation of the sentence. "Do what?"

"Do I have to spell it out, Lazuli?" Peridot sighed. Lapis always had to make things more difficult than they had to be.

"Peridot, what are you talking about?" She reached up to touch her forehead, but Peridot leaned away and continued talking.

"See? You're doing it again!" Peridot cried, thrusting her hands in the air.

"You're drunk," Lapis stated, going in for the green gem's arm again.

"No, I'm not." Peridot swatted her hand away, and her forehead creased. "You keep playing these games with me, making me feel weird."

"I'm not playing any games-" 

Before she could finish the sentence, a loud hollering could be heard across the room.

"They're under the mistletoe!" Amethyst shouted, her accusing finger pointing towards the couch. Peridot's heart lurched as she looked up, and realised that she was indeed, standing under a mistletoe.

They both froze and could feel the whole room staring expectantly at them. Lapis was busy with looking over Peridot's shoulder at the painting behind her and clutching at her arm like a lifeline. Soon, everyone began repeating the same word, first under their breaths, and then gradually rising in volume until they were shouting it.

"Kiss!", "Kiss!", "Kiss!"

Lapis finally met Peridot's eyes, and she raised her brow in question. Peridot nodded and shrugged. This was no big deal. Just a kiss on the cheek, right? Lapis reluctantly leaned in, aiming for the other gem's cheek, but at the last moment, just when Lapis had closed her eyes, Peridot decided that this was the best opportunity for her revenge. She went in for Lapis's lips, turning her cheek to face the other way. Their lips met, sending an electrifying jolt down her spine, which sent her stumbling backwards from the pure intensity of it. When she opened her eyes, Lapis was brushing her fingers over her lips and staring at Peridot with widened eyes. The room was deadly quiet.

"Perid-"

Peridot turned away and bolted out of the house. She needed to get away from everything. Nothing was going to plan. She'd wanted to make Lapis feel flustered, but the plan had backfired and instead she was the one feeling weird again. Her chest was heaving, and her breaths were coming out in pants as she climbed the ladder inside the barn and sat down on the old mattress stored in the jutting truck. 

"Peridot?"

"Oh my stars!" Peridot jumped, her hand automatically flying up to her chest.

"Why did you run away?" Lapis was standing beside the truck, and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest.

"Uh- It was a joke!" Peridot blurted out, her hands fumbling awkwardly.

Lapis squinted. "What?"

"I didn't mean to kiss you like that! It was an accident, I swear." Peridot's heart was still beating ferociously against her chest. She shielded her heart with her hand because she was afraid that it was going to pop out onto the floor.

"You mean, you didn't do that on purpose?" The blue gem asked, rubbing the base of her neck.

"No," Peridot muttered, her eyes darting to the tattered mattress.

"Oh." The change of tone made Peridot's eyes flit back to the gem in front of her. Her eyes landed on every feature of the blue gem's face, trying to figure out her expression. She almost looked...disappointed?

"Did you-"

"What?" Lapis's eyes widened. "No, of course not!" She held up a hand, and it hovered over her jawline as if she wasn't sure whether she wanted to touch it or not, before dropping it again.

"Oh. Right." Peridot mumbled, backing away. Her stomach roiled with nausea, and her heartbeat seemed to slow, but she wasn't sure it was from the eggnog.


	16. Chapter 16

The atmosphere had become awkward again. However, it was a different kind of awkward, Lapis noticed. One where hidden looks were sent across different corners of the barn, but never mentioned. It was her fault. If she hadn't flirted so openly with Peridot, then the other gem wouldn't have felt the need to kiss her, and they wouldn't have to be stuck in this situation right now. Her intentions had at first been to mess with Peridot a bit and now there was an impenetrable wall dividing them, a cloud of awkwardness that couldn't be breached. They were currently both on the couch watching Camp Pining Hearts season 3 because season 2 was still nowhere to be found. Their hands were both resting on the sofa, an inch away from each other, and occasionally, Lapis would inch a finger closer to the other gem's and brush it slightly against the skin, just to see her reaction. 

Peridot was dying inside. She was going to explode into a million shards, and someone would have to glue her back together. Since that day, Peridot had tried to forget about the kiss, but to no avail, as it was plastered on the forefront of her mind. When she was gardening, it was there, when she was watching television, it was there, when she was banging her head against the wall, it was there. Lapis being everywhere didn't help either, and now she could feel the other gem's finger brush against her hand. Did the other gem get a kick out of torturing her?

Peridot crossed her legs on the couch, shifting her attention back onto the television, but unfortunately, this only made things worse. She'd forgotten that this was the episode where Percy reunited with Paulette after their break up in the last season, and they were eating each other's faces. Lapis noticed Peridot shifting and fiddling with her fingers from the corner of her eyes, and before she could open her mouth, the other gem had leapt up from the couch.

"I have to go. I just remembered I have improv group this week." Well, it wasn't a lie. 

"Oh. Can I come with you?" Lapis asked as she watched Peridot pull on a brown jumper.

"Uh, sure," Peridot replied with a touch of hesitation when her head had popped out of the collar. "I don't have an extra jumper, though." 

"That's okay. I'll just watch."

Peridot jolted upright and turned away from Lapis to fix her hem, but inwardly she was feeling jittery. She didn't know why she didn't want Lapis to come, but she just had a bad feeling about it. However, it would've appeared suspicious if she refused.

"Right," Peridot said, whirling around with a false sense of excitement. "Should we go then?"   
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They reached the beach where the stage was set up, where Amethyst and the rest of the beach city laugh guards were waiting by the stairs. The audience was more prominent than usual; Pearl and Steven, the Rutile twins, Garnet, Rhodonite and Padparadscha were there, along with a few humans. Peridot gulped and she slowed her pace. Words could not describe the chaos that was happening in her stomach, and so she fiddled with her hem, prolonging the inevitable event that was about to take place. Her nervousness was ticking her off and setting her teeth on edge, and she was about to trek the long road back to the barn when Lapis tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Peridot muttered, shooting a nervous smile at her.

"Good luck," Lapis whispered in her ear, patting her back once more and taking a seat next to Steven.

Peridot skittered next to Amethyst, who was currently on her second bowl of noodles. 

"Hey, P-Dot. Took you long enough."

"I forgot about it." Peridot eyed the bowl of noodles, her mouth twisted into a scowl. Her stomach was roiling up a storm and she didn't want to watch Amethyst slurp up her noodles anymore, and so she tore the bowl away from the other gem's hands and laid it on the sand.

"Forgot about it, eh? Did Lapis keep you distracted?"

"Gah!" Peridot shrieked before a hand flew up to muffle the sound.

"Woah, calm down." Amethyst's hands shot up, and she waited until Peridot's eyes stopped blazing. "Didn't know you were that sensitive about it."

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Peridot sighed, sitting on the steps.

Amethyst's eyebrows shot into her hairline. "Peridot doesn't want to talk. That's new."

Peridot grumbled unintelligibly into her fist, but Amethyst still caught the words, and she plopped herself down next to the green gem.

"That's rough, man. What did she say?" Amethyst tried to placate her by placing a hand on the green gem's slumped shoulders.

"She didn't say much of anything. I told her that the kiss was an accident, and then she agreed."

"Wait, wait. Hold on a minute." Amethyst held up a finger and her eyes closed as if to process this information, before opening them again. "You told her that it was an accident!?"

"Yeah," Peridot mumbled.

"Well, then no wonder she agreed with you!" Amethyst said, chuckling under her breath. "Wow, you really messed up with this one, didn't you?"

"What else was I supposed to say?" Peridot asked incredulously.

"Uh, that you meant it?"

"I didn't mean it!

"You two are seriously clueless." Amethyst rose up from her position and left Peridot on the step.

"Wai- What? Amethyst! Come back here!" Peridot hissed.

Amethyst had gone up the stairs to whisper into Jamie's ear, whose face abruptly broke out into a wide grin.

"That's a great idea, Amethyst!"

"Everyone! Assemble into formation! Amethyst has come up with an ingenious idea. We shall let one member of the audience join us, just for today, mind you."

Everyone looked at each other.

Jamie cleared his throat and said in a louder voice,"So, who shall it be?"

Peridot was genuinely unlucky, as Lapis raised her hand.

"Ah! The one in the blue dress! Excellent." Jamie clapped his hands together and then plucked out a jumper from the chest behind him. Lapis pulled it on and gingerly stepped next to Peridot who was sitting on a stool.

"Okay! Like always, the audience gets to decide which word we will work with. So-"

"Steven!" Pearl shouted.

"No more Steven! We've already used him three times already!" Amethyst yelled back.

"New rule." Jamie chimed in, his hands formed in a steeple. "Nothing can be called out more than once, so Steven is out."

"Litterbox!"

"China doll!"

"Cake."

"I heard cake! So, that will be the word for today."

"Okay, so I have this cake. Now what?" Lapis was still confused as to how this worked.

"Well, what do you usually do with cakes?" Jamie queried, attempting to help the gem out. She was a beginner in the art of theatre, after all.

"I usually fall on them," Peridot admitted.

"Other than that," Jamie said.

Lapis thought for a moment before blurting out, "Throw them at people." 

Jamie chuckled uncomfortably. "No, the correct answer is, you eat them."

Lapis's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Gems don't eat." 

"I do!" Amethyst barged into the scene and pretended to gobble up the whole cake.

Jamie sighed morosely, before addressing the audience once again. "Well, now that our word has been eaten, can someone else suggest anything else?"

"Boxing glove!"

"Rainbow."

"Chicken!" This voice seemed to be muffled and coming from a different direction than all the other shouts, but Jamie didn't notice.

"I heard chicken. Now, Action." He slashed his hand through the air in a cutting motion.

"Ah! Well gee, I found this here chicken lying on the ground." Barbara scratched at her neck and pretended to hold a chicken in her hands.

"That would never happen," Lapis said, her lips set in an unimpressed line.

"Uh, it's called improv for a reason." Jamie countered.

"Lapis is right, actually. The chances of that happening are only a few in a billion." Peridot claimed, her legs crossed on the stool. 

"I don't think it's that unlikely." Jamie clenched his teeth. "On with the scene!"

"Hey, Barbara, can I borrow the chicken for a minute?" Amethyst had moseyed on up to the middle-aged woman and had her hands clasped around her back as if she was hiding a devious plot within them.

"Sure." Barbara pretended to hand the imaginary chicken onto Amethyst's palms.

"Oh! It's a fighter!" Amethyst sucked on her thumb, pretending as if the chicken had just plucked at it. To her surprise, the gem walked up to Peridot, her face still a blank slate but for the little quirk of her lips.

"Here, Peridot. I'd thought that this would remind you of someone."

"Oh really? And who is that?" Peridot asked, in a flat tone of voice.

"You."

The audience stilled. A loud laughter erupted in the crowd. The Off Colours remained silent as they still didn't know what a chicken was. Lapis snorted, and that made Peridot's insides boil even more. It wasn't the joke itself that angered Peridot, but the humiliation that came with it, as there was hidden meaning behind those words. On any other day, the silly joke which had been made at her expense would have made her laugh as well, but today was not one of those days. Amethyst had called her a coward to her face, for not owning up to her supposed feelings for Lapis. Before Peridot could have the chance to retaliate, Amethyst shapeshifted into a chicken and began clucking at the green gem, making other obscene noises and fluttering her wings. The crowd broke down even further until Jamie interrupted.

"Okay, that's enough Amethyst. I said no shapeshifting." 

"Whatever." Amethyst shapeshifted back into her original form and walked back to her place. 

"Another word?"

Peridot sat as still as possible, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, trying not to let her scowl show through. She was a raging wildfire inside, not believing that Amethyst could do something like this to her face and in front of Lapis, nonetheless. Lapis's smile dropped when she noticed that Peridot wasn't speaking, but she decided to wait until after the show to confront her about it.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They were strolling about on the sand, on their way back to the barn, and Peridot still hadn't uttered a single word. Lapis was getting worried. The wind was unusually chilly, and so she inched closer to the green gem and linked her arms with hers. She looked down with a concerned frown at the other gem's face, and it seemed like someone had drawn a permanent scowl on Peridot's face. Lapis pulled on her arms, causing the other gem to stop slugging.

"Peridot, what's wrong?" 

"Nothing." The other gem's face was still turned away from her, facing the tumultuous ocean waves.

"You haven't said a word since we left," Lapis noted.

No response.

"Didn't you have fun?" She prodded, her eyes still attached to the other gem's profile.

"You looked like you did," Peridot mumbled, her tone of voice bearing a sharp edge, which Lapis caught onto immediately.

Lapis frowned. "Well, yeah."

Peridot finally whirled around, little blazing fires encased in her eyes. "So you enjoyed that little show that Amethyst gave?"

Lapis jerked away from her and shook her head in disbelief. 

"It was just a joke, Peridot. You know it wasn't serious."

"Yeah! Maybe to you!" Peridot blurted out, before swivelling around and clasping a hand over her mouth. She'd made a mistake.

"What are you saying?" Lapis asked, her face contorted in confusion and her eyes raked over the other gem's back.

The green gem remained silent. The waters seemed dreamlike from this angle, as if the waves were not part of the ocean itself, but instead riding on the air. 'What are you saying?' Lapis had asked her the same thing before she'd left Earth. She was not about to risk losing her, not again. Never again.

"Nothing," Peridot muttered, clenching her fists. "Absolutely nothing."

"Peri-"

"We should go, Pumpkin will have woken up by now," Peridot said, with a tone of finality in her quivering voice.


	17. Chapter 17

Another week passed, and things were still tense at the barn. They were both having a small argument right outside, and Pumpkin was looking nervously from one gem to another and trying to break up the fight by circling them.

"I don't understand why you want to come with me." Peridot's face was contorted in a mix of confusion and frustration.

"It gets boring here. You know that." Lapis shrugged, crouching to try and calm Pumpkin down.

"But- You hate the crystal gems!" Peridot stammered, digging her foot into the grass. "You say that all the time!"

"I used to say that." Lapis corrected her, smoothing down her dress. "I don't like them, but I don't hate them either."

"Still, you never wanted to accompany them on a mission before today." Peridot narrowed her eyes at the aloof gem, who was still on the ground rubbing Pumpkin's belly.

"That was before you joined."

"Argh!" Peridot threw her hands up in defeat. "You know what? Let's go."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The Crystal gems had been surprised, to say the least when they saw Lapis walking along with Peridot on the beach, but they begrudgingly accepted her, with only some reluctance from Pearl.

"Garnet, are you sure about this?" Pearl hesitated, her eyes attentively watching the two gems strolling on the sand.

Garnet nodded."Of course."

"But-"

"Don't worry about it, Pearl. The chances of this mission ending in a disaster are one in a billion." Garnet said calmly.

"That's not very reassuring....." Pearl shifted from one foot to another.

"Trust me."

"I trust you," Pearl replied, with a touch of defensiveness. "I'm just not sure we can trust her." 

Garnet didn't say anything as she watched Lapis trail after the green gem. A flicker of something familiar stood out in the blue gem's eyes, as they followed Peridot's footsteps.

"I do."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Her hand brushed over a yellow acacia, and so she tore it from the ground and held the stem to her nose, inhaling as she trekked through the endless fields of grass and flowers. Peridot's mood hadn't improved or degraded since that day at the Improv, and what had at first seemed to be a passing cloud of grouchiness, was now beginning to look like something more profound. The green gem was walking many paces ahead of her, with Amethyst by her side. Lapis couldn't discern what they were saying, as they were whispering in hushed voices and the wind was howling through the gaps in the field. 

"Lapis?"

"Oh, hey Steven." She greeted offhandedly, her eyes glued to the duo in front of her.

Steven's eyebrows bunched together in a straight dark line. His eyes followed the blue gem's gaze, and there they landed on Peridot and Amethyst. They were standing suspiciously close to one another.  
Steven winced, but he erased that expression away and replaced it with a convincing smile in an instant. "I saw you at the Improv last week." He started, with a casual tone of voice. "It's good to see you and Peridot getting along again."

"What?" Lapis blinked, her eyes shooting away from the scene in front of her and instead to the boy with the pink shirt. His words slowly arranged themselves in her mind, and then her eyebrows dropped in understanding.

"Oh! Yeah, we're getting along better than we used to, I guess." She said, absentmindedly swatting a bee which had landed on her nose. 

"I guess?" 

Lapis stopped mid-stride. "Okay, to be honest... Peridot has been acting a little weird lately." She admitted, her slight smile melting off.

"Peridot is weird," Steven stated, shrugging his shoulders in indifference.

Lapis chuckled nervously. "Um, that's not what I mean. I think she's angry at me."

"What did you do?" 

"I didn't do anything." Lapis defended, her hands shooting up to her chest. "Ever since that party at your house, she barely talks to me, and she's always busy, somehow." She paused to pluck a petal.

"I thought we'd gotten over this, but now we're back where we started." Lapis sighed, her hands still fiddling with the flower's petals.

Steven watched this action, his smile dropping and devolving into a more serious one. "Have you asked her why she's acting like this?" 

"Yes!" Lapis exclaimed. "After the improv thing, I asked her what was wrong, and she was upset that Amethyst had made that stupid joke about her."

"Peridot got upset over that?" Steven asked dubiously, a corner of his lip twitching. 

"Yeah. Then she told me that it's only a joke to me." That part still didn't make sense to her.

"That is weird." Steven's mind was reeling with possible solutions to this strange puzzle. Peridot wasn't the kind of person to take such things to heart. Maybe she was a bit emotional at times, but not to this extent.

"I'll talk to her." Steven intoned. He needed to find out what was bothering Peridot, after the mission.

Lapis halted, and she turned to Steven with a full grin. She was so relieved that she had someone on Earth that she could rely on, other than Peridot. The green gem was her first option, but now, they had fallen out of odds, and Earth was a lonely place. She hadn't been a sociable gem on Homeworld. Most of her time had been spent travelling between colonies, so she didn't have much time to socialise and keep up with friends, but she didn't mind that so much. Silence was an old friend of hers, even before the mirror.

"Thank you, Steven." She gave him a short hug, patting him on the back, and then they continued their journey.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Amethyst tapped her, or more specifically clobbered her on the shoulder several times before she decided to twist around and hiss, "What?!"

"Why are you ignoring me?" The purple gem asked, her face bearing an annoyed grimace. Peridot scowled at her and turned back around to continue her trekking, ignoring the frustrated groan which came out of the other gem's mouth. Amethyst jogged forward and blocked the way with her arms and feet spread wide apart, but Peridot managed to skid under her left arm.

Amethyst started after her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you seriously doing this?" 

Peridot maintained her stony exterior, and trudged through a narrow opening in the field, the purple gem still following determinedly behind her.

"Is this about the chicken?"

Peridot froze, before resuming again.

"Oh. So it is." Amethyst deducted, a smug smirk of victory fixed to her lips.

Peridot's shoulders slumped forward, and she turned to Amethyst with an unimpressed scowl.

"How did you figure it out?" Peridot asked sarcastically.

Amethyst frowned, her expression dropping and her arms coming to rest at her sides. "It was just a joke." 

"No, it wasn't!" Peridot seethed, her eyes shooting hard daggers into Amethyst's lilac pupils. "You know it wasn't." 

"I only did it so that you'd snap out of it."

Peridot searched the other gem's face, squinting for the answer. "Snap out of what?"

"This!" Amethyst faltered, her hands shooting up to gesture at Peridot's whole figure. "Ever since Lapis left-"

"Don't be so loud!" Peridot shushed, slightly craning her neck to look at the blue gem who was watching them raptly a few paces behind them. "She's right-"

"-you've been acting weirdly." Amethyst continued, unbothered by Peridot's small panic attack. "Yeah, I get it, she left you." Peridot twisted back to glare at Amethyst, her hands now painfully clenched against her sides. "But now she's back, and it's been months! Get over it, already." She added, rolling her eyes.

"I am over it!" Peridot reprimanded, the volume of her voice rising by the second.

"No, you're not. You're angry all the time, you run away when things get too hard, and you can't take a joke, apparently." Amethyst paused, and then her finger came up to rest on her lips. "Actually, now that I think about it, you're acting just like she used to."

Peridot's finger shot up, and her eyes widened in shock."Yo-"

"Also, you're obviously in love with her, and you're too afraid to tell her about it, so I was doing you a favour," Amethyst finished, and she went on to walk in front of Peridot.

Peridot yanked her shoulder, effectively whirling her around. "I am not in love with her, and it is none of your business." She snapped, enunciating her words fully and clearly, her eyes tearing through Amethyst in her rage.

"It is my business when all you do is mope around and act sorry for yourself." Amethyst shot back, her cheeky expression unaffected by Peridot's words.

"I don't need this right now, and I especially don't need you to tell me what to do!" Peridot could barely manage to keep her voice down as to not to alert Lapis or the others. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take this route right here and don't follow me." She marched off into a separate field which was littered with white lilies and others which she didn't recognise.

"Go ahead! Run away again!" Amethyst called back.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Lapis had been following Peridot's footsteps for a while now, but there was no sign of the gem to be found. The sky was slowly darkening, and the air was becoming heavier, so she tried to find her way in the dark by touch. The only sounds were those of the leaves being crushed underneath her heels, but otherwise, the atmosphere was silent and almost foreboding. Even the wind, which had howled so fiercely and aggressively, had ceased and now only a weak drift remained. She arrived at a small clearing, and she placed herself on a flat rock, her eyes scrutinising the details around her. The trees were all surrounding her in a semi-circle, the only opening being the one she'd just came through. Her back itched as if something or someone was watching her, and as she craned her head around, she noticed a lumpy figure hiding in the shadows. 

"Peridot?" She called out in a small tone.

She slowly raised herself up, looming closer to the figure. The figure didn't move, so maybe it didn't hear her.

"Per-"

The figure leapt up, and it dived towards Lapis, making her stumble back in shock.

"Lapis!" This voice was coming from behind her, but the sound appeared to be muffled as if she was still underwater. The blue gem's feet were stuck to the ground, and her eyes were transfixed onto the monstrous thing that had crawled into the light. It had lumpy patches all around its body, and its face was so gnarled that no eyes could be seen. The nostrils were gaping, and the mouth was wide, creating the illusion of a smile. That's when she noticed, that something shiny was glittering amidst its body, something shaped...like a...

Lapis gasped, and her hands shot to her eyes. A shiver that ran all the way from her legs and through her entire body made her buckle and collapse into herself. Chaos. Running. Falling. Shattered. The Mirror.

"Lapis! Move!" She couldn't hear anything, and she was shaking her head, desperately. She was going to die. She knew it. At least she'd die knowing that Peridot was safe. Her hands pressed into her eyes, as she heard some commotion taking place around her. Why wasn't she dead yet? The clashing of metal pierced through her ears, and then the sound of stillness, and breathing.  
Eventually, her eyes grew tired of the pressure, and she slowly lowered her hands to her knees and hugged them close to her chest. Her eyes blinked open as they slowly adjusted to the grey light. Peridot was staring at her with a concern that was etched all over her face, from the turn of her lips up to the hair on her brows.

"Peridot?" Her voice came out harshly as if her throat was bruised.

"It's okay." Peridot sat herself down on the grass next to her, placing her hands on the wet grass, and only then did Lapis notice that her vision was bleary. Tears were streaming down her face at a rapid pace, and her front top was damp. Peridot plucked out some cloth from her gem and raised it to the blue gem's face, her eyes looking through her, but not at her. She began gently dabbing it all over face, first at the corner of her eyes, then down her cheeks and then her chin. Lapis was feeling strangely relaxed after the event that had just transpired. Her eyes were mesmerised, and she was studying Peridot's facial features, marking every little spot or scratch that she'd never even noticed, and counting the flecks in her green eyes. After Peridot finished wiping her face, the green gem leaned back and silently waited. They heard the stomping of footsteps soon after, and everyone arrived in the clearing, their chests heaving. Garnet's face looked torn, as her eyes immediately took in Lapis's form, which was still small and crumpled up.

"What happened?!" Pearl cried, her eyes darting from one gem to another.

"The gem's in that bush," Peridot muttered, pointing to a darkened bush on the edge of the clearing.

"Is Lapis...okay?" Steven hesitated, his eyes fixed on the blue figure that was still holding onto herself like she was her own lifeline.

Nobody said anything, as Peridot helped Lapis rise by holding onto her shoulders and leading her out of the clearing.

"This...is a disaster," Garnet stated, as she held the corrupted bismuth gem in her hands.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Peridot had been watching Lapis sleep for an hour now. This action would've been creepy on any other occasion other than this, but here they were. She'd led Lapis into the barn without speaking to anyone, and luckily Pumpkin was already asleep on the floorboards. They silently climbed the ladder, and as Peridot motioned to the mattress, she picked out a clean blanket. When she whirled around, Lapis was still stuck in the middle of the room, her eyes glazed and focusing on nothing. Peridot slowly inched forward and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, before leading her to the mattress, making sure not to touch her back in the meanwhile. Lapis perched on the edge, and so Peridot had to crouch and poke at her feet to make her lie in a horizontal position on the 'bed'. Then, she laid a hand over the blue gem's eyes and whispered, "Sleep." 

That had been an hour ago. Now, the other gem's hands were shaking in her sleep, and her feet were kicking wildly at the sheets. Her breathing was coming out short and ragged, her chest heaving and her eyebrows narrowed. Peridot hurriedly climbed onto the bed, but Lapis had already shot out of it.

"Peridot? Wh- W-"

"Shh.." Peridot shushed her and steadily lowered the blue gem back onto the bed, covering her figure with the blue blanket. She tucked the other gem snugly, while Lapis's eyes were following her every move, and then she rose up to return to her chair. A clammy hand clutched at her arm, and Peridot stilled.

"Look at me." The voice was quivering, but it still sounded like an order to Peridot's ears. She turned her face towards the blue gem who was huddled up in blankets on a tattered mattress.

"Look at me." She repeated, in the same tone of voice.

"I am-"

"No." Peridot's green eyes flitted up to those ocean blue eyes which had darkened and were now almost black.

"Stay," Lapis said, her hand tugging on Peridot's arm.

Peridot complied and snuck in under the blanket. Warmth immediately enveloped her despite the blue gem's cold touch. Lapis kept pulling on her arm until they were face to face, nose to nose, and then she turned around so that Peridot's chest was flush with the other gem's back.

"You're warm." Lapis sighed happily, still cradling Peridot's hand to her chest. Five minutes passed, and then Peridot could hear light snoring. She smiled.


	18. Chapter 18

Her eyelids fluttered open, and she threw an arm over her face groggily, before sitting up to check the time. The events that had transpired the day before were all messed up in a disorganised order inside her head. She noticed that she hadn't fallen out of the hammock yet, despite the torrent movements she was making to peruse the area around her. As she laid a hand on the blankets, a warmth seeped into it. Someone had slept there.

"Oh. You're awake." A blonde head popped out of the trapdoor opening near the wall, and Lapis shot a questioning look at Peridot.

"Did you sleep next to me?" Lapis asked, threading a hand through her hair and throwing a glance at the empty chair in the corner.

"Yes," Peridot answered simply, plopping herself down on the rickety chair.

Lapis raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because you told me to." 

"Oh." Her lips parted as the memory materialised itself in her head. Yes, now she remembered. Lapis felt some heat across her cheeks, and so she broke her gaze and looked at her hands.

"Did you like it?" 

"What?!" Peridot shrieked, almost shooting out of her chair.

"Did you like sleeping?" Lapis elucidated, biting the corner of her lips.

"Uh, yeah," Peridot replied sheepishly, pulling her legs to rest underneath her.

"I must admit. I found it a little hard to do at first, but it was not a bad experience. Those 'dreams', however, don't make any logical sense and their purpose is unknown to me. Why would someone-" Peridot stopped her rambling when she saw Lapis biting at her lips. Her eyes followed the small movement greedily, and she absentmindedly leaned forward, almost toppling out of the chair. Luckily, Lapis hadn't seen this little scene take place, as she was lost in thought, trying to recover the memories she had forgotten.

"Uh...Lapis?" 

"Hm?" The other gem's head shot up.

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"I remember freezing up because there was some kind of monster in front of me...and you...saved me," Lapis said, rubbing at her forehead.

Peridot frowned, and she scooted forward on the seat. "Yes, but Lapis, you didn't just freeze up." 

"What?"

Peridot glanced up at the ceiling, and shut her eyes."You were screaming for a minute straight after I defeated the corrupted gem." She continued, her eyes opening to peer at the blue gem's reaction.

Lapis's mouth fell open, her eyes widening. "That...isn't possible." She slowly rose from the bed to fix her hair. "I would have remembered that." Lapis intoned as she began brushing her hair with her fingers, tugging at specific knots that could be found.

"Then..." Peridot drawled, her eyes following the fingers' movement. "You looked like you were in shock, and so I brought you here."

Lapis sighed, and then she trudged to the small broken mirror that was bolted to the small ancient vanity. It had strange golden markings, swirling around the white wood, and the drawers were fitted with metal knobs that Peridot had made herself. "Well, at least we're both fine." She said in a nonchalant tone, brushing her bangs out of the way. She barely heard the small pattering of footsteps, but she could see a small figure staring at her through the cracked reflection. Her eyes focused on it. Peridot's eyes were shooting at her through the mirror, her mouth set in a hard line.

"Is that all you're going to say?" 

Lapis frowned at the reflection, and she lowered her hands onto the vanity. "What else am I supposed to say?"

Peridot's face twisted, and she threw her hands in the air. "I don't know! This is a pretty big deal." 

"It happened." Lapis clipped, swivelling around to give the other gem a firm look. "Now, let's forget about it." She walked around Peridot and flew downstairs to read a book.

Peridot swiftly used the metal lid of a trashcan to levitate herself to the ground floor, and then she marched up to Lapis."Do you really expect me to forget something like that?" She asked. "That thing almost got you!" The blue gem was still ignoring her, and so she circled around her.

 

"It came this close!" She held up two fingers that barely had any space between them. "That is way too close for my liking."

Lapis's expression hardened as she bore holes through the floor with her eyes. "There was nothing you could do." She mumbled.

"Yes, there was!" Peridot cried, trying to fight back her tears. "If I had just stuck by your side, then this would have never happe-"

"It would've happened anyway!" Lapis snapped, finally meeting the other gem's eyes.

"No-"

"I'm just a liability to everyone, don't you understand?!" Lapis was pacing around the floor, her eyes wild and her fingernails biting into her arms, making sharp indentations in the skin. Peridot winced and followed the blue gem's footsteps. "I can't be put in control of anything. All I had to do was move, and I couldn't even do that."

Peridot's gaped at her, and then she wrenched the other gem's soft hands from her arms, gripping them in her calloused ones. "You are so much more than that, Lapis!" The desperation in her voice was evident, as shown by a flicker of surprise in hard blue eyes.

"Don't bother lying to me." Lapis shook her away, turning to face the wall. "I'm weak." She stated with finality. "You know it. Steven knows it. The Crystal Gems know it."

"You are the strongest person I know." Peridot declared, her eyes marking the pronounced lines that formed the blue gem's back.

"Liar!" Lapis shouted, whirling around to close in on Peridot, her eyes shimmering and her lips set into a snarl. "On Homeworld I was nothing! Do you think that Earth is any different?" She asked with a mocking tone. "That it makes me special? No, I'm still nothing."

The puff of air hitting her face was the warning, and the sound of the slap that rebounded across the barn, the second warning. The impact had made Lapis's head jerk sideways, and now the sharp sting that pulsed underneath her cheek could not be lessened by the cradling of a hand.

"You are everything to me!" Peridot blurted out, her chest still heaving and her face tinged with redness. After a second, it's as if the green gem had realised what she had just let escape out of her lips because both of her hands were slapped over her mouth in an instant. Her feet buckled, and she sprinted out of the barn and into the fields. Lapis's feet were still glued to the floorboards, and her eyes hadn't shifted, as they were still fixed to the spot which the green gem had occupied a moment before. Then, it's as if the words were suddenly slapped onto her mind, and she flew out of the barn.

She found the green gem huddled underneath a withering Oak tree, its leaves fluttering wildly against the grey, pallid sky. The moment that Peridot caught the silhouette of the blue gem, she'd risen to escape the harsh confrontation, but Lapis was too quick for her, and she landed right in front of her. Lapis's mouth opened, but no words were coming out, and so Peridot turned to run away.

"Wait!" Lapis flew up to the green gem again, this time grasping her arm to keep her from moving.

"Why do you keep running away from me?" 

"Because...because...." Peridot spluttered, her mind trying to form the words that she could never reach. "I don't know!"

Lapis sighed, decreasing the pressure on Peridot's arm. "Did you really mean what you said?" 

"Yes," Peridot answered in a small tone.

Lapis took in a sharp breath, and then she slinked away from Peridot, her face hidden by the shadows of the tree and the clouds.

"Why would you say something like that?" The blue gem uttered, her hands digging into her crossed arms.

"Because it's the truth." 

Lapis chuckled bitterly, and her head lowered even further. "How can I be your everything when everything I do is wrong?"

"Because... you know me, and I know you," Peridot paused, and smiled. ''We understand each other."

Lapis's head shot up, and she stared at Peridot for a moment, her eyes following the other gem's subtle smile. "I'm not the person you think I am, Peridot. I'm a horrible person. I trapped Jasper under the ocean. You know why? Because I wanted revenge, not because I wanted to protect Earth and not because I had some other ulterior motive."

Peridot frowned. "But you're different now!" She cried. "You've changed and so have I!"

"I haven't." Lapis turned her head slightly, to look at the shaking leaves. "Not really."

"I don't believe that."

The blue gem huffed and then glared at the other gem, who was stubbornly still stuck to the same spot, her face was cocked up in defiance. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it breaks my heart to see you put yourself down like this. You say that everything you do is wrong? You are so strong, and so much braver than I am. You saved me from the Rubies, despite me being a total stranger at the time." There was a short silence, where Lapis felt her thoughts halt.

"You care about Earth," Peridot added.

Lapis jerked, and then her arms dropped. "No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do."

"Damn you, Peridot!" She marched up to the other gem. Her intentions weren't laid out clearly in her mind, but it did make Peridot back up and stop her onslaught of words. The other gem gasped as she was forced to back away into the trunk of the tree, one hand scraping against the bark, the other one guarding her chest. Lapis put her hands between the green gem's head, staring down at Peridot with a steely, hard glint. "I hate you." She muttered under her breath. They stared at each other for a long time, and Lapis took this time to study Peridot's face, as she'd done in the small clearing. She had already noticed the small scratches, one at the corner of her lip, and the other one marred her cheek. They were tiny and had faded over time, but Lapis took great relish in the fact that she was probably the only one, besides Peridot, to have discovered these two scars. The need to study them further grew. She started by slowly inching forward and tilting her head. Their noses grazed, and soft lips pecked at the scar, all the way down to the one on her lip, hovering there. Things were still for a moment before Lapis closed that final distance, and their lips brushed tentatively. Everything seemed surreal for Peridot. The bark under her fingers, the wind howling in the air, and even the eyelashes that were tickling at her face. 

Peridot tilted her head, exhaling softly through her nose as Lapis gripped at her waist. The kiss was short and sweet, but time seemed to still for Peridot, as she reached up to put her hand on Lapis's cheek. The blue gem lurched back from her as if she'd just been stung, and her hands flew up to her body, tightly guarded. 'What am I doing?' 'What am I doing?' 'What am I doing?' Her heart was pulsing underneath her skin, like a fast drumbeat. The other gem had a dazed look on her face.

"Lapis?"

Her lips still shone with saliva, and Lapis had to look away.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"You did nothing wrong," Lapis said in a strangled voice. Peridot felt a slight rush of relief, but this only lasted for a moment, as the other gem opened her mouth again.

"I did." She added, but she didn't notice Peridot's fallen expression, as her gaze was directed to the darkening sky. The green gem could feel her heart slowly breaking, the cracks gradually widening and forming like chasms. Meanwhile, Lapis was still stuck in her own whirlwind of a mind. All she knew was that her lips were burning, and her chest was filled with little monsters, all of them grappling with each other, trying to tear out of her chest with excitement. The feeling was both unfamiliar and exhilarating. Terrifying.

"We should go. It will rain soon."

Peridot said nothing.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They entered the barn chilled to the bone, rainwater dripping off their clothes and forming puddles on the ground. Lapis rushed over to Peridot who was standing in the middle of the barn and whisked the water off with her hydrokinesis, before doing the same for herself.  
Peridot hurriedly clambered up the ladder, not giving her a second look and Lapis watched her depart with furrowed brows. She decided that they both needed time to recuperate from the heavy interaction that they'd just been in, and so she dropped herself onto the hammock, landing ungracefully on her stomach. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her mind fogged up with dreams, all of which included the green gem.  
Upstairs, Peridot had her face buried in a pillow, trying to suffocate herself, even though she knew that the effort was futile. The pillow was becoming damp, and so she sat up on the mattress and flung a hand over face, trying to clear the tears away.She wanted to forget the kiss ever happened, but at the same time, she wanted it to cradle it and to store it away in a box, ready to be opened whenever she needed it. Lapis had kissed her. She'd reached out to her. Her lips had voluntarily touched hers.  
That was all pointless, because the first words that came out of the blue gem's mouth erased all meaning. 

The kiss had been one giant mistake that was committed in the heat of the moment. That's all it was to Lapis, just a stab in the dark, a step gone too far, a silly tumble down the river. She'd thought that Lapis wanted her in that way. What a fool she had been. A stupid, hopeful fool, who couldn't see what was right in front of her. This strange infatuation had been buried inside her all along, but now it had risen to the surface. Was Amethyst right? Was she in love with Lapis? But then again... she didn't know what love meant. Steven had described love as something sacred, something beautiful and perfect. This felt like devestation. In conclusion, this couldn't be love. Maybe, it was another form of obsession, that would eventually fade out of the periphery of her mind. She knew what obesession was, so she could deal with that. During her time on Earth, she'd developed these sort of 'obsessions' for items, and she'd learnt to live without them. This could be the same premise. A voice in her mind whispered that she'd never actually gotten over her obsession with Lapis, but she buried that deep in the recesses of her brain. Furthermore, how would she know that she was, as Amethyst had said, 'in love'? This love seemed like an imaginary theory, some sort of thing cooked up by humans to make their world look less bleak. 

Why would someone like Lapis want someone like her, anyway? A Peridot with a Lapis Lazuli? It was enough that they were friends. That in itself would have gotten them both shattered on Homeworld. There it was again. Peridot winced as thoughts of the planet that she had once called home filtered in, but then she shook them away. She needed to stop thinking about that place. She clenched her teeth and held her chin up high, climbing down the ladder soundlessly.  
Lapis was passed out on the hammock, with not a care in the world, her hand brushing up against the floorboards. Peridot's lips twitched as she noticed a bit of drool on her chin, but then she forced her lips to stay put. No. She was going to get rid of this silly infatuation she had picked up somewhere along the way, in whatever way she could. She turned away from the scene in front of her and delved into the storm outside.


	19. Chapter 19

Her mind was leading her down the hill on auto-pilot. She didn't know where she was going. She just knew she needed to keep moving. Soon, she reached that doughnut place near the beach house, and thankfully it was shut tight. She broke the latch, flinging it over her shoulder and hearing it clutter on the ground, before moving in through the back door. The room was pitch dark, and so she turned on her gem light, and the room brightened with a sick, green glow. A scream made her skin erupt in goosebumps, and her hair stand on end. 

"Who is that?!" The voice was unfamiliar. 

"Peridot?" Steven came into view, shielding his eyes from Peridot's light. 

Peridot peered behind him and noticed a small human with a doughnut shirt standing in front of a blaring tv.

"What is this?" Peridot asked. 

Steven inched closer to the tv and lowered the volume using the knob. He then switched on the lights, filling the room with a yellowish tint, and turned to address Peridot.

"We were watching scary movies." He said. 

Peridot raised an eyebrow. "In the dark? And why are you here?" 

"The electricity is gone, and the Big Donut is one of the few places in town that has a generator." The human behind him chimed in. 

Peridot sighed. So much for finding a quiet place. 

"Right. I'll go then." She turned to scurry off. 

"Wait!" Steven cried, hurrying after the green gem.

Peridot froze. "What?"

Steven rubbed at his shoulder, and after a pause, his eyes shifted. "Look, I know it's none of my business, but are you okay?"

"Yes." Peridot deadpanned. "Now can I leave?" She just wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

"Were you upset that Amethyst made that joke about you?" Steven blurted out.

Peridot flinched at the mention of the purple gem, but Steven took this as a confirmation.

"You know she didn't mean it in a bad way, Peridot. That's just the way Amethyst is, sometimes," Steven shrugged, smiling in that placating way of his.

"I don't care about some stupid joke!" Peridot spat out. She felt as if everyone was so focused on the wrong thing.

Steven's half-smile fell, and he moved closer to Peridot, his shoulder grazing a dust-covered shelf.

"Then why-" 

"Why do you care?" Peridot asked, leaning away from him.

"Why does anybody care? I just want to be left alone." She crossed her arms and stared stubbornly over his shoulder, where the human was browsing a collection of DVDs.

"I care about you. Lapis cares about you." 

Peridot shuddered at the name. "What does she have to do with it?" She mumbled, her hands tightening even more.

"She asked me to talk to you."

"Oh." Of course she did.

"She thought that she did something wrong because you were angry after that day at improv." He added.

Peridot said nothing, but she was mulling this over inside her head. Lapis thought she was mad at her? Why? Peridot had tried to act as normal as possible, but apparently, this was even worse.

"Peridot, can't you just make up with her? Just talk to her, and hug it out." He said nonchalantly.

Peridot felt a surge of anger, and her annoyance grew. Everything was so simple for Steven. At that moment, she wanted what he had. Simplicity. The power to minimise a problem. The power to turn a giant into an ant. But life wasn't that easy, was it? That was one thing she'd learnt on this planet. Things weren't logical, and they weren't always solvable. It went against her nature, both as a gem and as a peridot, but the rules were different here. What could she do?

"Hug it out?!" She repeated, her eyes growing in size."You think everything can be solved just by hugs and kisses, but they're not!" She uncrossed her arms, and a vein tensed in her neck. "Things are never that easy!" She confirmed this by kicking the shelf next to her. It didn't budge. Steven stood there, staring at her with this concerned look plastered on his face, and his hands were lifted up. Peridot deflated like a balloon. Amethyst was right. She was making everyone leave.

"It doesn't even matter now," She uttered. "Goodbye, Steven,"

Steven's hand shot out, but the other gem had already left. "Peri-" 

"Wait, Steven," Sadie interjected, staring at the door which was still wide open. 

"Maybe I can talk to her." 

 

Lapis woke up with a start. The thunder was rumbling outside, and lightning shot against the sky, white against grey. Her eyes drifted shut again, but she couldn't make herself fall asleep, and so she placed her feet on the ground. She began wandering around the barn, aimlessly, the previous kiss repeating itself in her mind. What was she thinking? She wasn't thinking. The moment had been laden with high emotions, and she didn't know how to process them, that's all. She didn't have any feelings for Peridot. The green gem meant a lot to her, but that's all it was.

Even if she did have feelings for the other gem, Lapis was definitely the wrong person for a relationship. She would eventually hurt Peridot, just as she'd hurt everyone else. She’d already had. She couldn't allow that to happen again. As she climbed the ladder, she found the sheets of the mattress tumbled, and the pillow had been thrown against the wall. She picked it up and could feel wetness seeping in through the covering, dampening her fingers. That was curious. Absentmindedly, she held it to her face and breathed in.

Peridot had called her, "her everything." Lapis wasn't anyone's "everything." She was a broken mess, ready to be fractured at any moment. At the sight of the corrupted gem, her body had frozen up. She felt so weak, so vulnerable, so useless. The feeling could not be explained in words and for Peridot to bring it up again... it was so unlike her usual self. She just wanted to forget about the whole encounter. Her thoughts drifted off. To the war, to the mirror and Malachite, but then she shook herself out of the trance, her eyes refocusing again. She straightened the sheets, and arranged the pillow on the mattress, before sitting on the antique chair and folding her hands on her lap. Her fingers trailed over the arm of the chair, and blue eyes squinted at the darkening sky. Where was Peridot?

 

The rain was drenching her clothes now, and her hair stuck to her face, flopping against her eyes stubbornly. The roads were slippery, and so the inevitable happened. She slipped, and skidded into the sidewalk, hitting her head on the curb. Immense pain crowded her head like a burning storm, and then she felt a presence behind her.

"Uh, are you okay?" It was that human from earlier. The strange one with the purple shirt and the heavy set build, with curled hair framing her curious face.

"Gah," Peridot groaned as she felt around her gem for cracks. There was nothing there.

"It's fine," She reassured, sitting up on her heels. "This happens all the time."

Sadie winced, and then she sheepishly rubbed her neck. "I know you don't know me," She started, holding out her hand.

"I don't," Peridot scowled at the hand, before reluctantly taking it.

"I'm Sadie,"

"Peridot," 

Sadie dropped her hand. "Look, I don't know exactly what's going on in your life right now, but maybe I can help?"

"You're a complete stranger," Peridot stated, perusing the human's face in suspicion.

"Yeah," Sadie chuckled, and then her expression turned serious. "But someone once told me that complete strangers are better listeners."

Peridot frowned at the strange human. "Why do you want to help me?" 

"You're friends with Steven, so I know you're cool. And the electricity is out, and I have nothing else to do other than watching scary movies that I've seen a thousand times," Sadie shrugged her shoulders and began rubbing her hands over them to generate warmth. 

"Oh," Peridot then realised that she was in the middle of a storm, in the middle of town, the rain pounding down on her with furious intent. She had nowhere to go, except the barn, and that wasn't an option right now. "Well, if you insist," She put her hand on her lips, acting as if this had taken some considerable thought.

Sadie ushered Peridot through several side streets, and before long they had arrived at a simple looking house, its two windows providing a homely appearance to the otherwise harmless building. She was led in through the front door, and then Sadie told her to wait while she changed into her dry clothes. Her eyes couldn't help but land on the several photos which were littered on the fireplace, most of them stained by the years and others, like the one of Sadie with some other human, looked brand new. As she moved closer, she realised that the human looked very familiar. It was Lars, sans the pink skin and scar, and his face was set in a grim look, and his hunched figure looked nothing like the one she'd seen on the emerald ship. This was an entirely different person. It's almost like he'd been reborn. Footsteps entered her periphery, and she swivelled around to face Sadie, who was towelling her hair.

"You know Lars?" Peridot blurted out.

Sadie froze, before slowly putting the towel on the sofa. "Yeah," Her eyes were sombre, and small lips had straightened.

Peridot winced, cursing her quick tongue. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" 

"No, it's alright," Sadie rushed to placate her. "It's just that...nevermind. Follow me,"

They went down the stairs, creaking all the way down to the basement, where Sadie's room was. The bed was utterly reckless, and an armada of stuffed animals was invading one corner of the room, but Peridot didn't care at the moment.

"Sorry for the mess," 

Peridot awkwardly plopped herself on the bed, picking out a dolphin from the pile, and holding on to it. Sadie sat on the beanbag chair which was opposite the bed, and for a while they just stared at each other, listening to the chaos which was overtaking the sky outside.

"So..." Sadie began, fiddling with her top.

Peridot didn't know why she was about to confide in a complete stranger. Maybe it was the fact that this person didn't know her and so couldn't judge her. Maybe it was the environment. The darkened room, the faceless posters on the wall, the air of anonymity. Maybe it was the millions of stuffed animals on the floor, all looking at her with high expectations stitched onto their faces. She didn't know. 

"It's a long story," Peridot started. "It's mostly centred around my roommate." 

"Your roommate, Lapis?" 

Peridot nodded. 

"Ever since she arrived from the moon, she's been sending me mixed signals.'' 

Sadie ignored the whole 'arriving from the moon' part. "Mixed signals...how?" 

"She kissed me, today. And then she called it a mistake." 

Sadie opened her mouth, and then closed it shut. 

"That's...harsh." 

"Yeah," Peridot agreed. 

A short but awkward silence hung in the air. 

"Wow, I'm horrible at this." Sadie groaned. 

"What? No!" Peridot tried, unconvincingly. 

Sadie sighed and stood up to pace the room, before picking up a picture. As she trudged closer to Peridot, the gem realised that it was a copy of the photo upstairs. 

"Lars is basically the creator of mixed signals. One day, he wants to spend time with you, the next day he doesn't. He changed while he was in space, but deep down he's still the same person." 

Sadie looked at the picture for a moment longer, and Peridot could see the thoughtful consideration in her eyes. Then, her eyebrows relaxed and she put the picture back in the drawer. 

"Every time I've tried to help, it just made things worse. The only advice I can give you is how you can cope with it." 

"How can I cope with something like this?" 

Sadie sat down on the beanbag chair and then gave Peridot a serious look. 

"Just...spend time with your friends, try to forget about her." 

Peridot’s heart gave a lurch at the horrible thought. 

"That doesn't sound like good advice..." 

Sadie smiled sadly."It isn't. I'm not a therapist, just a normal girl in a boring town." 

"Uh...Is it possible to stay here for a while? I really don't want to face Lapis right now..." Peridot admitted, looking off to the side. 

"Sure,” Sadie said. “We don't have to talk." 

At that moment, the lights flickered, and the room came alive. 

"Oh! They fixed the electricity." Sadie exclaimed. 

Sadie gazed at the series of DVDs that were resting on the shelf. She hesitated, before turning back to Peridot with a shy smile. 

"Hey, are you up for some scary movies?" 

Peridot’s eyes darted up to her, and then she shrugged. "Sure."

 

Lapis had been waiting all night for Peridot to return. The morning dew glittered on the grass outside, and the birds were huddled in their nests, yet the green gem hadn't arrived. The worry was slowly building up inside her. Peridot hadn't told her where she'd gone. What if she was in danger? What if some homeworld gem had captured her and she was in the middle of an unknown galaxy? She gnawed on her fingernails, as she looked out of the opening in the barn. 

Usually, they'd sit all night waiting for the sun to rise but now it seemed to be mocking her. "Yes, you're alone." She turned away from the fiery ball of gas which sat at the edge of the world, teetering between ocean and sky. Maybe Peridot had gone to the beach house. But why? Was Peridot angry at her? Had the kiss disgusted her that much? She remembered how upset Peridot had been when she'd kissed Lapis by accident. Lapis rubbed her forehead, lowering herself onto the antique chair. She had made a big mistake. 

She sat in the chair for a moment longer, before sprouting wings and flying off to the Beach house. When she arrived, there was no one there, and so she turned around. On her way back, she glimpsed a tiny figure walking near the pier. She dove through the air, cold wind gliding on her cheeks, and landed on a patch of wet sand. The figure was not Peridot, as she'd suspected. It was Pearl. Lapis's feelings towards the other gem were not hostile, but they learned more towards neutrality. The fact that she'd been stuck inside Pearl's head for thousands of years still was a thought that she found uncomfortable, and from the look on Pearl's face, she guessed she didn't find it pleasant either. 

"Hello, Lapis," Pearl greeted, the surprise evident in her voice. She wouldn't have thought that Lapis would stick her foot out of the barn after the events that had transpired on their last mission. 

"Pearl," Lapis replied noncommittally. 

They stared at each other for a silent moment. 

"Is...there something I can help you with?" 

"Yes, actually," Lapis brushed off some remnants of sand that were stuck to her skirt. "Do you know where Peridot is?" 

"No. I haven't seen her since..." Pearl trailed off, awkwardly holding onto the last word. 

Lapis's face remained blank. "Well, okay. Bye." 

"Wait." 

The blue gem's feet froze, and she whirled around to raise an inquisitive eyebrow at the other gem. 

"Look...I just want to apologise," Pearl started, shuffling her feet and clasping her fingers together. One would think she'd never apologised before. 

"Apologize," Lapis deadpanned. "For what?" 

"For...the mirror," Lapis flinched, immediately clenching her fists at her sides. 

Pearl's eyes widened, and her mouth clicked open at the darkened look that was shrouding Lapis's face. "I-I really didn't know you were in there! I thought that it was just a normal mirror!" Pearl exclaimed. 

Lapis's teeth gritted together, the noise like chains grinding against metal inside her mouth. Everyone was bringing up these ancient memories, like rotting bodies being dug up from deep within the dirt. Why? These things had happened. The past was written. It didn't need to be mentioned anymore. 

"It's fine," She muttered. 

Pearl balked. "Fine?" 

"Yes," That was a lie. She wasn't okay with it and probably never would be. She didn't know if Pearl had actually known or not and she didn't much care for the truth or about soothing the other gem's guilty conscience. All she cared about, was getting through the day and finding Peridot. 

"I have to go," Lapis said, before taking off and leaving a sandstorm on the beach.


	20. Chapter 20

Peridot had spent a whole night watching scary movies with Sadie, but the human had left early in the morning to go to work. She thought about what her next action should be. It was apparent that Lapis didn't like her romantically but then again...she had made a move to kiss her. Peridot hadn't been the one to instigate it. The blue gem was still an unsolvable mystery to her, much like the Earth. Whenever she thought of this planet, the first image that reached her mind was the ocean, and then Lapis. The two were almost synonymous with each other. She had been the reason why she'd come to Earth in the first place.

These thoughts inside her head faded away into nothingness, like the dust particles that were shimmering in the sunlight. The window was open. The storm had ended.

She wanted to go back to the barn, but at the same time, she didn't. The eventual confrontation with Lapis was inevitable, but she wanted to prolong it for as long as she could. A sudden knocking on the door made her flinch, and look up at the ceiling with annoyance. She scampered up the stairs and flung the door open to find Steven sitting on the porch. Steven looked up, and his face lit up at the sight of the green gem.

"Hey, Peridot."

"Steven? What are you doing here?" Peridot asked, still holding the door open. 

"Just wanted to check up on you," Steven replied, picking himself up from the floor.

"Wow. Thanks," Peridot muttered in a cheerless tone, moving back into the house. Steven frowned, but followed her path into the living room.

"Peridot, can I ask you something?" He dropped onto the couch that faced the fireplace, and Peridot was left standing near the brightly lit window. She nodded and didn't say anything.

"What happened with Lapis on that mission?" 

Peridot whipped her head, and shot a look of surprise at Steven, before turning towards the window again.

"A corrupted gem attacked her," Peridot began. "Luckily, I got there in time and managed to defeat it but...Lapis was screaming. Then, it was like she was in shock, even when I took her to the barn."

A raw silence sat in the room, like an unwelcome guest, before Peridot opened her mouth again. 

"I've never seen her like that before," Peridot mumbled. "It scared me." 

"Is that why you were upset yesterday?" 

"Yes, but more than that. This morning, when I told her about it, she wanted me to brush it off and act as if nothing had happened. Can you believe that?" Peridot decided not to mention the kiss. Telling Sadie was already enough.

"And did you?" 

"No!" Peridot whirled around, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"She can't keep avoiding this. Before she left, I made sure never to mention anything related to the war, and look where that got us!"

Peridot huffed and sat down next to Steven. Her eyes were red around the rim, and her chest was heaving as if she'd just run a marathon.

"Just because things are never mentioned, that doesn't mean that they're not there." She said in a subdued tone. She rested her chin on an open palm. 

Steven stared at the gem's profile, waiting for her to elaborate. 

"She blames herself for not fighting back. The corrupted gem, I mean. She feels like she's a liability to me." 

"What? Lapis isn't a liability!" 

"I want her to realise how much she means-" Peridot stopped herself in time, and then started from the beginning. 

"I want to help her with this, but I don't know how. I was made after the rebellion ended, so it's not like I can relate to what she's going through."

"Well, maybe she can talk to Pearl or Garnet?" 

Peridot snickered and turned to Steven with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, right. Can you imagine her talking to Pearl?" 

Steven shrugged. "She talks to you." 

"Not about this," Peridot said, her smile fading. 

'Not about anything.' Peridot didn't know anything about Lapis. Not really. She didn't know why she'd been on Earth, and what she did on Homeworld. She didn't know whether she'd had any friends or any enemies in her life. They made sure to avoid mentioning their past lives on Homeworld, even though this was an experience that bound them together, a unique one which served as the foundation of their relationship. Despite this, Peridot and Lapis were completely different. They had both managed to get along in a close space, for many months now. Maybe not mentioning their past lives was for the better. The only important thing was now. The green gem pondered this for a moment longer. 

"Peridot...I don't know how to help you with this." Steven admitted while wearing a nervous smile. 

"That's okay, Steven." 

"But...Amethyst did tell me that she's going to a wrestling match later. You can come if you want to. Maybe it can distract you for a while?'' 

Peridot sighed. ''Amethyst and I had a fight." 

"What?! About what?" He asked incredulously. 

''She thinks that I'm in love with Lapis,'' Peridot muttered under her breath with gritted teeth.

''Oh.'' 

Peridot raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. ''What do you mean, Oh?''

''Nothing!'' Steven looked away, and he put his hands on his lap. 

Peridot narrowed her eyes at him, before turning her head away to look out the window. 

"As I was saying, I told her that it was an utterly ridiculous concept and that she should stop bothering me about it. Then I left." 

"I'm sure she forgot about it," Steven said, looking to her hopefully. "And even if she didn't, then you can still apologise to her." 

"Ye- Wait a minute. Why should I apologise to her?" 

"T-" 

"I told her to stop mentioning that silly notion, but she wouldn't listen! That joke was just the icing on the cake, of course. Calling me a coward because, apparently, I'm too scared to tell Lapis that I have 'feelings' for her.'' Peridot used air quotes for the word, subsequentially rolling her eyes.

"So, that's why you were upset?"

"I wasn't ups- You know what? Perhaps, I was a little upset, but I had every right to be."

"Okay, so maybe you both need to apologise to each other, but..." 

"But what?" 

"Amethyst was just trying to help you. Yeah, she didn't do it in the best way, but sometimes the best intentions have the worst consequences." 

"Did you get that off the internet?" 

Steven had the decency to blush. "Yeah, actually. But, my point still stands."

Peridot drew a deep breath and then shot a serious look at Steven. "Alright, fine. I'll come with you, but I can't promise anything."

 

The air was musty and tasted of sweat, complimenting the rest of the atmosphere which was encumbered by rowdy humans, all waiting impatiently. Some were tapping their feet, and this made it seem like the room itself had a heartbeat pulsing underneath the grimy floorboards. Others had scowls painted onto their faces, much like Peridot, who was wrinkling her nose in distaste. She was being ushered between rows of humans, her face occasionally being smushed by flabby arms and heaving bellies. They finally reached a small room which was crammed with other wrestlers, all preparing for the fight. The purple gem stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the pale-skinned humans, her skin distinguishing her from the rest of the rabble.

"Amethyst!" Steven called.

Amethyst's head shot up, and her mouth widened into a conciliatory grin. It abruptly dropped at seeing the green gem stepping in behind him.

"What is she doing here?" Amethyst asked, pointing to the green gem as if she was a fly on the wall.

"I just wanted to apologise," Peridot started, her eyes shifting back and forth. 

Amethyst crossed her arms, and cocked her head as if to say, 'Well, go on then.' 

Peridot let out a deep breath, and clasped her hands behind her back, puffing her chest for that extra boost of confidence.

"I'm sorry for telling you to mind your own business, even though you were completely wrong about that thing that you said was true. I'm sorry for being offended that you called me a coward to my face. There." Peridot brought her arms back to her sides, and her eyes refocused on the gem in front of her.

Amethyst was wearing an unimpressed scowl.

"You call that an apology?"

"I'm not good at this." Peridot turned to Steven, who was rubbing his neck and looking at the ground. 

“Yeah, no kidding,” Amethyst muttered.

Peridot whirled back to Amethyst, her eyes shooting daggers towards her.

"I'm not even sure why I'm apologising to you in the first place! You're the one who's at fault here!"

Amethyst threw her head back and laughed. "Me? This is exactly what I was talking about-"

Peridot held up a hand. "Don't bother repeating what you said," She interjected. "You said it quite clearly on that mission. I'm too annoying to deal with, I run away when things get too hard, and I can't take a joke. That's what you said, right? Or did I forget something else?" Peridot stopped counting on her fingers and looked at Amethyst with a faux expression of curiosity, which complimented her sarcastic tone of voice very well.

"You forgot making everything about yourself." Amethyst quipped, lazily leaning a shoulder on the wall.

Peridot guffawed and looked away for a moment. "I don't even know why I bothered coming here." She mumbled under her breath.

Amethyst straightened and looked Peridot dead in the eye. "I don't know either."

She then shapeshifted into Purple Puma and marched out of the room, her steps making the room rattle and the other wrestlers whipped their head around in curiosity.

"Well, that went well." 

"Amethyst isn't usually like this," Steven noted, his eyes still fixed to the doorway. 

"I guess not," Peridot agreed.

Steven turned to her, and he crossed his arms. 

"Did something else happen during that mission?" He asked, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. He liked to pretend that he was a detective during these moments of interrogation, and so he put a hand on his chin pensively. 

"Not that I remember," Peridot said, staring back at Steven with a mirrored expression as if to poke fun at him. 

Steven dropped his act and sighed. 

"I think I know what's bothering her." He admitted.

"You know that day that you found Sadie and me in the Big Donut?" 

"Yes..." Peridot drawled, her eyes scouring his expression with sudden interest. 

"Well, it's true that the electricity was out, but I was actually there because I was hiding."

"Hiding..." Peridot repeated dumbly. "From what?" 

"From...the gems. The atmosphere in the house has been so awkward since that last mission. Amethyst is barely even in the house, Garnet is always busy with some mission and so that leaves Pearl. She's always either moping on the couch or cleaning like a maniac." 

Steven frowned, and sat down on the grimy floor, his feet sticking out. 

"I don't know what to do." 

Peridot groaned and lowered herself onto the floorboards. "Okay, fine," she said. "I'll find another way to apologise to Amethyst if that will make you happy."

"That's only part of the problem," Steven grumbled, and Peridot was reminded that he was still a child.

"And...I'll watch crying breakfast friends with you," Peridot mumbled, her lips set in a straight line. 

Steven said nothing, but he raised his head a bit. 

Peridot huffed and sat up on her heels. "I'll convince Lapis to watch it too." 

"Really?!" Steven leapt up, and his eyes were filled to the brim with excitement as if this was an extraordinary feat. Well, it was to Peridot, especially since she needed to convince Lapis as well. 

"Yes," Peridot replied, her slight smile morphing into a wince as Steven gripped her in a tight hug.

They walked out of the room side by side, and their ears were bombarded with swearing and shouting. The match had started, and Purple Puma was in the ring, fighting off a heavy-set man with a handlebar moustache. Sounds of encouragement and booing ricocheted off the walls, making it seem like an ongoing argument was going on. Steven led them closer, and Peridot reluctantly followed him, somehow managing not to trip on the multitude of items that were littered on the floor. 

"Look at her go! It seems that Purple Puma has grown even stronger since her retirement!" A fat balding man was holding a microphone in his sweaty hands, and his forehead glistened in the shaky light. Peridot felt a flair of recognition and then realised that it was the same man who managed the rides at Funland.  
Purple Puma then proceded to throw the wrestler out of the ring, and he groaned in pain as he smashed a chair into splinters. The crowd went wild, and Purple Puma lifted her hands up in victory.

"Who's next?" The announcer asked in a sickeningly exciting voice. His eyes roamed the audience, scanning for worthy competitors and then they landed on Peridot. 

"How about you?"  
Peridot swiftly backed away, but a flabby stomach prevented her from moving any further, and so all eyes turned on her. She acted as if she hadn't heard him, by shifting her eyes towards the floor, but then a grubby hand clutched at her arm and pulled her onto the ring. Her eyes flitted back to Steven, who was wearing an apologetic smile. She mouthed, "Help me," and tried to stare him down with her desperation, but Steven shrugged. 

Amethyst crossed her arms when Peridot was brought into the ring. "I'm not going to fight you," She said, and then proceeded to throw her legs over the ropes, landing on the floor with a heavy thump. 

"It seems that Purple Puma has decided not to fight!" The announcer stated, and the crowd looked at each other with confused frowns. Others started yelling at the purple gem. Suddenly, a burly man hopped into the ring, making the ground shake. Peridot's hands floundered, but she managed to hold onto the rope, still staring at the strange human with wary eyes.

The man cracked his knuckles, and then let out a bellowing laugh, his remaining teeth creating a yellow contrast when compared to his pale face.

"Is this who I am supposed to fight?" He mockingly gestured to her, looking at the announcer with a raised brow. He then coughed and spat on the floor.

"I didn't know they let kids in nowadays-" 

"I'm not a child!" Peridot interrupted, which made the man sneer at her.

"Oh! She speaks!" He turned to the audience and chuckled derisively once more.

"So you're not a kid then?" He asked. 

"No," Peridot grumbled. 

He put his hand on his chin, looking deep in thought and then he turned to Peridot again.

"Then why do I have to bend over to talk to you?" 

"Okay. Listen up, you clod-" 

"Listen up, everybody!" 

"Wha-" 

"Can someone get a stepladder for this kid? I'm afraid that I'll lose track of her during the fight, and I'll just be fighting air the whole time." 

Peridot began fuming, and her eyes were burrowing through the man's shoulders. She wasn't a naturally violent gem, but this person was really testing her limits. She wasn't even that short. Was she? She tried to levitate some metal chairs that were in the corner of the room, but her power was drained out like a heavy force was blocking her from controlling the metal. Her eyes went to the audience, and everyone was laughing and pointing towards her like she was a performance piece. Her forehead was beginning to sweat, and her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth.

"Why don't you run along and-" 

That's it. Peridot ran up to the human, while his back was still turned, and clobbered him on the back with her fists. He span around and shot a look of disdain at her, before grabbing her by the wrist and throwing her against the railing. Her head crashed against the post, and she heard a resounding crack. She quickly scrambled up the railing, but the man tugged on her leg, which made her land on her stomach. She swiftly turned to face the ceiling and saw that the man’s meaty fist was raised up, ready to strike her. Her eyes squeezed shut, and her hands flew up to guard her body out of instinct, but then she heard a raspy shout.

“Hey!” 

The man froze, and craned his neck to look behind him. Purple Puma was standing there, with her hands on her hips.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” 

The man faltered, and his mouth opened a bit, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything back. Purple Puma surged in and sent a kick towards his mid-section. He staggered back with a painful groan and held his stomach. His face took on a deadly expression, and as he came forward, Peridot felt a switch flip inside her head. She lurched from the floor and leapt onto the man’s shoulders, subsequently slapping on his head. 

“Hey, kid! Get off me!” He yelled.

“I-“

Slap. 

“Am-“

Slap. 

“Not-“ 

Slap. 

“A-“ 

The man was whirling around, trying to wrench Peridot off his shoulders but his vision was blinded by her hands.  
“Kid!” She finished. His bald head was turning red and it reminded her of the plump tomatoes at the farm.  
Purple Puma watched this with amusement in her eyes, and when she finally got tired of circling around the duo, she swung at the man’s jaw, felling him in one swoop. His face hit the ground, and Peridot was certain that a tooth had been dislodged. She rose up, and the crowd was cheering. Others were standing with their arms crossed in disappointment, but Peridot didn’t care.

Amethyst was idling in the middle of the ring, trying to avoid her eyes. Peridot inched closer to her and poked the other gem on the shoulder.  
Peridot shot a smile at Amethyst, and the other gem hesitated, before returning a full grin.

\---

 

Steven and Peridot were lurking outside the abandoned warehouse, waiting for Amethyst to show up. 

“That was so cool how you guys beat him up like that!” Steven said, his eyes radiating with excitement.

“Yeah,” Peridot muttered.

“And when Amethyst kicked him in the stomach!” 

“Very cool,” She mumbled, gazing at the ground.

Steven paused and looked at Peridot, his hands dropping.

“You don’t sound excited...” Steven noted.

Peridot sighed. “It’s not that.”

“Then, what is it?”

She studied Steven’s frowning face for a moment.

“Didn’t you notice it?” She asked, raising an eyebrow of her own.

“Notice what?”

“My powers,” Peridot whispered, with a cupped hand around her mouth. “They didn’t work.”

Steven’s frown dropped and his mouth widened.

“Ohhhh...”

Peridot turned away from him and shamefully hid her face with her hand.

“Peridot, it’s okay!” He rushed to gently wring her hand away from her face, but she was still blushing.

“My powers don’t always work either,” He admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

“But...I’m a crystal gem now. What if something like that happens during a mission? If I’m not good enough to beat a human-“ Peridot shot a conciliatory look at Steven, but he shrugged. 

“Then...how can I even manage to beat Homeworld gems if they come to attack Earth?” 

“But you did beat him,” Steven interjected. 

Peridot’s mouth twisted. “Not really. It was mostly Amethyst who did the work. I just...” Peridot held up her skinny arms. “Slapped his head.” She finished awkwardly.

Steven tilted his head at her. “But you still fought.”

Peridot’s mouth opened, but Steven’s hand flew up to silence her. 

“Yeah, I know. You might not have won. But...you fought him anyway. That’s brave. That’s what being a crystal gem means.” 

Her mouth snapped shut, but before she could say anything else, the door to the warehouse slammed open, and Amethyst emerged. They both looked at each other for a moment.

Amethyst sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Look, I didn't mean to call you a coward to your face, okay? And for the other thing. I wasn't wrong about it, but I'll stop mentioning that if you feel uncomfortable. You're my only friend besides Steven, and maybe Vidalia. Pearl too. But... we're the shorty squad! It isn't the same without you." 

"Fine." Peridot relented, an easy smile forming on her face." I forgive you, and I am sorry about what I said, despite my poor attempt at conveying it.''

''Awww! Group hug!" Steven cooed, enveloping them in a tight hug. 

“Ow! Steven!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, thank you for your kind comments, I never thought that this would be so well-received. Something has happened to me recently and that's why I'm not updating anymore, but I will make sure that this work is completed, even if it will take longer than expected.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to add any feedback or criticism down below, it is very much appreciated. What did you like about it? What didn't you like?


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